MAY.  16  1918 
%0<JICAL  StU^ 


v 


L *' VlSlUC 


Scctioo 


V.i. 


* 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2015 


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THE 


SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS 


NINETEENTH  CENTURY: 


A  HISTORICAL  VIEW 

OF  THE  SUCCESSIVE  CONVULSIONS  AND  SCHISMS  THEREIN 
DURING  THAT  PERIOD. 


"  I  will  weep  for  thee  with  the  weeping  of  Jazer,  O  vine  of  Sibmah  !  The  spoiler 
is  fallen  upon  thy  summer  fruit,  and  upon  thy  vintage." — Jerem.,  xlviii,  32. 

"  Yet  the  blessed  Truth  shall  outlive  it  all,  and  emerge  out  of  the  very  ruins,  if  it 
must  come  to  that." — John  Barclay. 


PHILADELPHIA: 
FOR  SALE  BY  SMITH,  ENGLISH  &  CO., 
710  ARCH  STREET  : 
AND  BY  THE  AUTHOR,  103  N.  TENTH  ST.,  OR  1411  N.  ELEVENTH  ST. 
1  8  7  6. 


IN  THE 


BY  WILLIAM  HODGSOX. 


VOL.  II. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  187G, 
By  WILLIAM  HODGSON, 
In  the  office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Washington,  D. 


SltFlittAN  &  CO.,  PRINTERS, 


PREFATORY 


NOTE 


TO  THE  SECOND  VOLUME. 


In  the  first  volume  of  this  history,  we  have  reviewed  the 
rise  and  progress  of  the  Hicksian  schism  in  America,  with  its 
precursors  in  Ireland  and  in  New  England,  and  afterwards  the 
occurrence  of  the  Beacon  Schism  in  England,  as  the  prema- 
ture outbreak  of  the  more  insidious  and  far  more  extensive 
defection  from  the  original  principles  of  the  Society,  intro- 
duced mainly  by  the  writings  and  teachings  of  Joseph  John 
Gurney  and  his  associates.  This  latter  schism  is  therein  nar- 
rated as  far  as  the  year  1840.  The  present  volume  will  be 
mainly  occupied  with  a  development  of  the  sad  consequences 
of  the  spread  of  this  doctrinal  revolution  in  the  Society — of  the 
disastrous  effects  of  a  treacherous  spirit  of  connivance  and 
compromise,  which  arose  among  those  who  for  a  time  opposed 
its  progress — and  of  the  preservation,  nevertheless,  of  a  rem- 
nant concerned  to  stand  through  all  for  the  ancient  faith  of 
the  people  called  Quakers. 

In  commencing  this  second  volume,  the  author  particularly 
desires  his  readers  to  keep  in  memory  the  remarks  made  on 
page  viii  of  the  Preface  in  the  first  volume,  respecting  unavoid- 
able and  unfavorable  personal  allusions  in  the  narration  of 
the  sad  events  which  enter  into  its  pages.  These  have  been 
exclusively  in  relation  to  actions  or  expressed  sentiments  of  a 
public  bearing  in  connection  with  the  fundamental  and  vital 
changes  attempted  to  be  introduced  into  our  most  holy  faith  ; 
and  no  motives  unfriendly  to  individuals  have,  consciously  at 
least,  incited  such  allusions.  Should  any  feel  themselves  ag- 
grieved by  what  they  may  deem  incorrect  statements,  the 


vi      PREFATORY  NOTE  TO  THE  SECOND  VOLUME. 

author  would  request  them,  candidly  and  in  a  Christian  spirit, 
to  bring  any  supposed  wrong  specifically  to  his  own  attention, 
rather  than,  as  has  sometimes  been  the  case,  by  secret  insinu- 
ations, which  may  only  accidentally  or  never  come  to  his 
knowledge,  to  endeavor  to  detract  from  the  reliable  truthful- 
ness of  the  work.  These  may  rely  upon  his  openness  to  re- 
ceive suggestions  conscientiously  made  of  any  real  error,  and 
to  give  them  due  weight,  with  an  earnest  desire  to  do  that 
justice  to  others  which  he  would  have  done  to  himself. 
*  Again,  in  introducing  this  work  to  the  attention  of  his  fel- 
low-professors, there  is  one  thing  against  which  the  author 
deems  it  his  duty  earnestly  to  protest.  That  is,  the  mistaken 
policy  of  many  otherwise  well-concerned  parents,  by  which 
great  numbers  of  sensible  young  persons  have  been  kept  in 
entire  ignorance  of  the  real  nature  of  the  troubles  in  the  Soci- 
ety of  which  they  are  members.  There  is  no  soundness  in  the 
argument  that  it  is  not  safe  to  trust  the  youth  with  a  knowl- 
edge of  subjects  brought  by  false  brethren  into  controversy  in 
the  church,  and  producing  disunity  and  weakness.  On  the 
contrary,  an  acquaintance  with  the  afflicted  state  of  the  Soci- 
ety has  often  cherished  serious  thoughtfulness  and  real  heart- 
felt interest  in  the  minds  of  young  persons  ;  while  the  igno- 
rance of  it  promoted  by  this  false  idea  of  danger  on  the  part  of 
parents,  has  tended  to  precipitate  hundreds  of  hopeful  youth 
into  the  snares  of  the  enemy.  Such  young  people  have  a  right 
to  know,  and  surely  it  is  the  duty  of  honest-hearted  parents  to 
place  them  in  the  way  of  knowing  for  themselves,  not  only  the 
true  principles  of  the  Society,  but  the  manner  in  which,  in 
our  own  day,  those  principles  have  been  and  are  assailed,  and 
the  devices  by  which  the  adversary  of  truth  has  succeeded  in 
supplanting  them  to  a  wide  extent  by  a  false  faith. 


CONTENTS 

OF  THE  SECOND  VOLUME. 


PAGE 


Prefatory  Note,  v 

CHAPTER  VIII. 
The  Antislavery  Separation  from  Indiana  Yearly  Meeting,  .       9  • 

CHAPTER  IX. 

The  Persecution  of  John  Wilbur  and  others,  and  the  Schism 

effected  by  the  Gurney  Part}',  in  New  England,    .       .  49 

CHAPTER  X. 

The  Gurney  Schism  continued  ;  and  Rise  of  the  Temporizing 

Party  in  Philadelphia  and  Ohio  Yearly  Meetings,        .  112 

CHAPTER  XI. 

Progress  of  the  Gurney  Schism  within  New  York  Yearly 

Meeting,  107 

CHAPTER  XII. 

Development  of  the  Gurney  Schism  within  Ohio  and  Balti- 
more Yearly  Meetings,  191 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

The  Separation  in  Iowa,  and  the  mischief  effected  there  by 

the  Middle  Party,  226 


Vlii  CONTENTS  OF  THE  SECOND  VOLUME. 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

PAGE 


Progress  of  the  "Middle"  System — One  of  its  fruits  the 
"  King  "  Separation  in  New  York — Another,  the  loss  of 
the  Lawsuit  in  Ohio  240 

CHAPTER  XV. 

Establishment  of  the  General  Meeting  for  Pennsylvania, 

*      etc.,  independent  of  Philadelphia  Yearly  Meeting,       .  281 

CHAPTER  XVI. 

Subdivision  in  New  England,  in  1863 — Rise  and  Failure  of 

a  General  Meeting  of  the  Smaller  Body  in  Ohio,  .  .313 

CHAPTER  XVII. 

Opposition  in  England  to  the  New  Doctrines — Meetings  or- 
ganized there,  independent  of  the  Lapsed  Yearly  Meet- 
ing of  London,  345 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 

Concluding   Remarks  —  The   Identity   of  the   Society  of 

Friends,  405 


THE 


SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS 

IN 

THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

THE    ANTISLAVERY    SECESSION  IN    INDIANA  YEARLY 
MEETING. 

The  order  of  events  requires  us  now  to  go  a  little  out 
of  the  beaten  track  of  doctrinal  schism,  to  notice  briefly 
a  secession  of  a  local  and  practical  character,  which 
meantime  very  unexpectedly  made  its  appearance  within 
the  limits  of  Indiana  Yearly  Meeting,  developing  itself 
by  separation  early  in  the  year  1843. 

It  was  indeed  a  strange  and  almost  incredible  thing, 
that  within  the  Society  of  Friends,  a  body  so  long  char- 
acterized by  an  uncompromising  testimony  against  slav- 
ery, an  actual  secession  should  take  place  on  the  ground 
of  zeal  against  that  great  national  crime.  Yet  so  it  was  ; 
and  the  circumstances  were  such  as  might  well  suggest 
the  query,  whether,  while  one  party  was  alleged  to  have 

VOL.  II. — '_' 


10 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN     [CHAP.  VIII. 


been  actuated  by  excess  of  zeal  for  that  particular  duty 
of  opposing  slavery,  so  as  to  place  it  in  an  undue  prom- 
inence compared  with  other  Christian  duties,  to  the  dis- 
paragement of  the  great  obligation  resting  upon  all  the 
members  of  the  Society,  to  maintain,  as  far  as  could  be 
done  without  unfaithfulness  to  divine  requirement,  the 
oneness  of  the  body,  "  the  unity  of  the  Spirit  in  the 
bond  of  peace whether,  on  the  other  hand,  their  oppo- 
nents, who  controlled  the  proceedings  of  the  Yearly 
Meeting,  were  adequately  alive  to  the  faithful  mainte- 
nance of  that  great  testimony  of  the  Society ;  whether 
they  were  sufficiently  on  the  watch  to  be  preserved  from 
undue  influences  by  which  the  efficacy  of  the  testimony 
might  be  frittered  away  ;  and  whether,  in  their  opposition 
to  what  they  considered  the  undue  zeal  of  their  anti- 
slavery  brethren,  they  did  not  allow  themselves  (having 
the  power  of  the  organization  in  their  hands)  an  unwar- 
rantable liberty  of  encroaching  upon  the  conscientious 
convictions,  and  violating  the  disciplinary  rights  of  many 
of  their  fellow-members,  in  attempting  to  restrain  their 
action,  and  to  put  down  all  efforts  against  slavery  which 
seemed  to  be  in  advance  of.  their  own  uncertain  and  falter- 
ing steps. 

But  first,  let  us  bear  in  mind,  that  the  testimony  of 
Friends  against  slavery  had,  in  the  healthy  days  of  the 
Society,  always  been  held  on  religious  grounds,  equally 
with  their  testimonies  against  other  prominent  evils;  and 
no  disposition  had  been  cherished  by  them  to  excite  pop- 
ular feelings  either  on  this  subject  or  any  other,  further 
than  the  Truth  led  them  to  discountenance  and  denounce 
every  kind  of  wickedness.  They  knew  that  the  heart 
of  man  must  be  regenerated,  or  he  could  not  be  reliably 


1840.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


1  1 


redeemed  from  moral  depravity ;  and  therefore  their  chief 
concern  was  to  promote  that  thorough  regeneration  of 
soul  which  would  lead  out  of  all  moral  evil  and  establish 
in  all  truth  and  righteousness.  They  were  sensible  that 
lopping  the  branches  would  not  kill  the  root  of  corrup- 
tion, but  that  if  the  root  could  be  effectually  struck,  the 
branches  could  not  live.  So  that  wdiile  they  were  careful 
to  strike,  as  occasion  required,  at  the  evil  branches,  yet 
their  main  aim  was  unremittingly  against  the  root. 

The  Society  in  America  had  carefully  avoided  com- 
mingling their  zeal  in  behalf  of  their  testimony  against 
slavery,  with  the  highly  wrought  passions  of  political 
parties,  and  had,  on  that  account,  and  aware  also  of  the 
manner  in  which  things  are  often  managed  in  popular 
assemblages,  generally  refrained  from  taking  part  in  pub- 
lic meetings  or  political  demonstrations  on  the  subject; 
which  were  felt  to  be  of  an  entangling  nature,  and 
calculated  to  leaven  those  thus  engaged  into  worldly 
and  hasty  modes  of  action,  to  weaken  the  hold  of  pure 
religious  feeling,  and  to  draw  away  the  soul,  impercept- 
ibly perhaps,  from  that  humble  waiting,  at  every  step, 
for  divine  direction  and  help,  under  which  the  faithful 
have  always  found  safety.  At  the  same  time  it  was  always 
understood  that  an  individual  liberty  existed  for  the 
watchful  performance  of  our  social  duties,  under  conscien- 
tious conviction,  and  in  accordance  with  our  principles 
and  profession. 

In  entertaining  the  question,  whether,  of  latter  time, 
the  testimony  against  slavery  had  really  been  faithfully 
maintained,  or  whether  this  salutary  caution  just  spoken 
of  had  not  been  carried  too  far,  and  even  right  exertions 
against  this  great  iniquity  thereby  more  or  less  crippled 


12 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN     [CHAP.  VIII. 


or  discouraged  ;  we  must  boar  in  mind  the  general  con- 
dition of  the  Society  as  described  in  the  first  chapter  of 
this  work  (Vol.  I),  and  give  due  weight  to  the  fact  that 
the  Yearly  Meeting  of  Indiana  partook  of  at  least  an 
equal  share  with  other  portions  of  the  body,  in  the  gen- 
eral languor  and  lack  of  primitive  zeal  and  faithfulness 
to  the  testimonies  of  truth.  A  living  concern  and  zeal 
for  the  ancient  faith  must  have  been  giving  way  either 
to  the  inroads  of  formality  or  to  outward  views  of  sup- 
posed duty  and  policy,  and  inordinate  dependence  on  the 
dicta  and  authority  of  leading  men,  or  they  could  not 
have  so  suddenly  changed  about,  as  they  did  about  this 
time,  and  given  the  undivided  countenance  of  the  Yearly 
Meeting  to  the  innovations  of  Gurneyism.  It  is  needful 
also  to  bear  in  mind  the  undeniable  fact,  that  many  in- 
fluential members  of  the  Society,  both  there  and  else- 
where, had  allowed  their  sentiments  in  regard  to  slavery 
to  be  more  or  less  modified  by  popular  outcries  against 
immediate  abolition  and  its  advocates,  by  the  supposed 
interests  of  trade  and  commerce,  by  the  influence  of  the 
Colonization  Society  as  a  palliative  and  protracting 
agency,  and  by  the  plausible  but  fallacious  plea  that  we 
must  be  careful  to  "  keep  our  way  open  to  the  ear  of  the 
rulers  of  the  land,"  and  even  of  the  slaveholders  who 
controlled  those  rulers,  by  an  appearance  of  moderation, 
and  of  standing  aloof  from  the  so  much  dreaded  "abo- 
litionists."* 

In  the  secession  which  is  about  to  be  brought  into 
view,  Daniel  Puckett  and  Charles  Osborn  were  conspic- 

*  It  has  even  been  said  that  one  of  the  American  Yearly  Meetings  (that  of 
North  Carolina)  issued  a  document  condemning  the  act  of  giving  shelter,  in  any 
way,  to  a  fellow-creature  escaping  from  slavery!  See  "Edgerton's  History,"  p. 
306. 


1840.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


13 


uous,  from  their  position  as  aged  and  well-esteemed  min- 
isters, who  had  travelled  much  in  the  service  of  truth. 
The  latter  had,  in  1832  and  1833,  travelled  extensively 
in  Great  Britain,  France,  and  Germany,  and,  while  in 
England,  had  clearly  seen  the  approach  of  the  Beacon 
schism,  and  faithfully  testified,  on  various  occasions, 
against  the  departures  from  our  true  principles  which 
were  then  making  their  appearance  in  that  country.* 

In  the  year  1840,  he  travelled  in  the  ministry  through 
some  parts  of  New  England  and  New  York,  and  after 
attending  the  Yearly  Meeting  in  the  city  of  New  York, 
he  made  the  following  statement  in  his  Journal  : 

"  After  the  meeting  closed,  I  felt  a  portion  of  suffering  still 
"on  my  mind.  The  state  of  Society  here  is  such  as  cannot 
"  fail  to  cause  mourning  to  those  who  do  '  prefer  Jerusalem 
" '  above  their  chief  joy.'    After  meeting  I  went  with  Thomas 

"  and  Elizabeth  Robson,  to  Mott's,  to  tea,  where  I  had 

"an  interview  with  J.  J.  Gr.,  in  tbe  presence  of  T.  and  E.  R. ; 
"in  which  I  was  favored  to  relieve  my  mind,  in  the  discharge 
"  of  a  Christian  duty  toward  him,  in  relation  to  his  departure 
"from  the  Christian  doctrine  of  our  Society  on  Justification, 
"and  that  on  the  Sabbath.  He  appeared  to  be  in  a  disposi- 
tion to  contend  that  what  he  had  written  and  published  to 
"the  world  on  those  points,  was  in  accordance  with  the  doc- 
"trines  of  our  Society;  which,  I  think,  can  but  be  cause  of 
"  astonishment  to  all  those  who  read  his  books  on  those  points. 
"It  was  truly  so  to  me  ;  for  the  departure  is  so  evident,  that 
"  it  needs  only  to  be  seen  by  the  understanding  reader,  to  know 
"  that  what  he  has  published  on  these  subjects  is  a  departure 
"from  our  doctrines,  which  we  have  held  ever  since  we  have 
"been  a  people,  and  a  return  into  those  things  out  of  which 
"we  were  gathered. "t 

*  See  the  "  Journal  of  Charles  Oslioru,"  CiDciDnati,  1854,  pp.  292,  293,  340,  343 
and  345. 
t  lb.,  p.  411. 


14 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN     [CHAP.  VIII. 


During  his  visit  to  Great  Britain,  various  inqniries 
were  made  of  him  respecting  the  American  Colonization 
Society,  which  gave  him  opportunities  of  explaining  to 
Friends  his  conviction,  that  this  Association,  founded 
as  it  was  mainly  by  slaveholders  and  their  sympathizers, 
was  by  no  means  to  be  relied  upon  as  a  means  for  the 
extinguishment  of  slavery  in  the  United  States,  as  its 
aim  seemed  to  be  practically  the  expatriation  of  the  free 
colored  people  from  what  had  become  the  land  of  their 
birth,  and  where  they  had  "  as  good  a  right  to  live,  as 
he  had  himself."* 

After  his  return  home,  and  especially  after  his  journey 
in  New  England  and  New  York,  he  and  many  other 
Friends  within  the  Yearly  Meeting  of  Indiana  believed 
it  right  for  them  to  take  a  decided  stand  against  the 
idea,  which  seemed  to  be  increasing  in  prevalency,  even 
within  the  Society  of  Friends,  that  a  gradual  or  procras- 
tinating policy  in  regard  to  the  emancipation  of  the 
slaves  was  all  that  was  really  practicable;  and,  there- 
lore,  all  that  was  to  be  decidedly  advocated — that  im- 
mediate emancipation,  without  previous  preparation  of 
the  slaves  for  the  change,  would  be  highly  dangerous — 
an  idea  which  seemed  to  be  in  some  measure  contempo- 
raneous with  the  rise  and  progress  of  the  Colonization 
Society,  or  was  at  least  promoted  and  spread  by  the 
delusive  claim  of  that  Association  to  popular  support,  on 
the  ground  of  its  looking  towards  abolition  by  preparing 
an  asylum  for  the  colored  people  in  the  land  of  their 
forefathers. 

The  more  these  Friends  contemplated  the  whole  bear- 


*  "  Journal  of  Charles  Osboru,"  p.  276. 


1840.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


15 


ing  of  the  subject,  and  the  prevailing  tone  of  feeling,  as 
they  believed,  in  the  Society  and  in  the  community  at 
large  at  that  time,  the  more  fully  they  were  convinced 
that  many  were  lapsing  into  the  popular  opinions  and 
fallacies,  and  relaxing  their  hold  on  the  great  testimony 
of  Friends  against  this  national  crime,  and  that  it  was 
their  duty  firmly  to  withstand  whatever  was  calculated 
to  fritter  that  testimony  away.  They  therefore  boldly 
declared  themselves  for  immediate  emancipation,  as  for 
immediate  departure  from  any  other  crying  wickedness; 
for  an  avoiding  to  deal  in  or  use  the  known  products  of 
slave  toil,  as  they  would  avoid  using  or  dealing  in  goods 
dishonestly  obtained,  and  refrain  from  that  which  kept 
slavery  alive;  and  for  a  clear  and  fearless  exposure  of 
the  false  claims  of  the  Colonization  Society  to  be  relied 
upon  as  the  means  of  eradicating  slavery. 

Since  about  the  year  1835,  various  portions  of  the 
community  in  the  Eastern  and  Northern  States  had  been 
more  or  less  agitated  by  the  exertions  of  the  newly 
forming  antislavery  societies;  and  this  agitation  appears 
to  have  had  some  influence  among  many  Friends  in 
Indiana,  inciting  them  to  take  a  more  open  and  public 
stand  on  the  subject  than  they  had  hitherto  done.* 
Among  these,  Charles  Osborn,  who  had  previously  dis- 
approved of  our  members  joining  with  others  not  gov- 

*  In  18313,  Indiana  Yeaily  Meeting  issued  an  epistle  to  its  members,  warning 
them  against  aiding  the  Colonization  Society  and  its  sehemesof  expatriation,  and 
expressing  their  "  affectionate  desire"  that  they  might  all  besoalive  to  the  testi- 
mony against  slavery,  "that  none  may,  through  prejudice  or  otherwise, cast  any 
discouragements  in  the  way  of  such  as  are  faithfully  laboring  to  promote  uni- 
versal emancipation,  whether  such  laborers  be  found  within  or  without  the 
pale  of  our  Society."  And  in  1837,  it  renewed  its  advice,  exhorting  to  an  indi- 
vidual examination  and  endeavor  to  be  found  doing  all  that  was  required  of 
them,  in  "  publicly  or  privately  pleading  the  cause  of  the  oppressed." 


16 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN     [CHAP.  VIII. 


erned  by  the  same  principles,  in  public  agitation  of  the 
subject,  now,  about  the  latter  part  of  1839,  changed  his 
opinion  in  that  respect,  and  began  to  earnestly  advocate 
their  aiding  the  antislavery  associations  in  their  respec- 
tive neighborhoods. 

It  is  possible  that  some  of  the  members,  about  this 
time  and  shortly  afterwards,  were  in  danger  of  being 
carried  too  fast  and  too  far  in  commingling  with  public 
orators,  and  perhaps  even  with  political  agitators,  on 
this  important  but  exciting  subject.  This  may  have 
been  the  case  to  some  extent.  There  is,  however,  no 
evidence  that  Charles  Osborn  was  one  of  these,  or  indeed 
(so  far  as  is  known  to  the  writer)  that  the  discipline  of 
the  Society  was  really  transgressed  by  those  who  were 
associated  with  him  in  feeling.  They  certainly  were 
thoroughly  awake  to  the  enormities  of  the  system  of 
slavery,  and  boldly  avowed  a  conviction  of  duty,  prac- 
tically to  oppose  it  in  all  its  features,  to  the  best  of  their 
ability,  as  citizens  concerned  for  the  safety  of  their 
country.  And  so  far  as  appears,  there  was  nothing  in 
the  constitution  of  the  Society  of  Friends,  by  which  they 
could  rightly  be  brought  under  the  censure  of  the  church, 
for  following  out  their  conscientious  convictions  of  in- 
dividual duty  as  they  did.  There  had  always  been  a 
liberty  allowed  for  each  member  to  walk  in  accordance 
with  his  conscientious  convictions  or  scruples,  so  long  as 
these  did  not  contravene  the  well-known  and  established 
testimonies  of  the  Society  ;  a  liberty,  it  is  true,  subject 
to  brotherly  admonition  and  advice,  for  the  safety  of  in- 
dividuals and  the  honor  of  Truth,  but  not  to  coercion 
and  authoritative  limitation.  If,  however,  evidence 
should  appear  of  transgressions  of  the  discipline  or  testi- 


1840.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


17 


monies  of  the  Society,  then  the  church  would  rightly 
intervene  with  its  authority,  and  gospel  order  must  be 
maintained. 

During  Charles  Osborn's  visit  to  the  Eastern  States,  he 
had  met  with  considerable  opposition  to  his  firm  testi- 
mony for  unconditional  emancipation.  Before  his  return 
(in  the  sixth  month,  1840),  the  Meeting  for  Sufferings 
of  Indiana  issued  a  document  advising  the  members 
against  joining  in  the  antislavery  enterprise,  which  their 
Yearly  Meeting  had  aforetime  approved,  and  likewise 
against  acting  with  the  Colonization  Society,  which  they 
had  already  condemned.  This  document,  being  sent  to 
the  Quarterly  Meetings,  elicited  much  disapprobation 
from  the  antislavery  portion  of  the  members,  as  interfer- 
ing with  the  testimony  against  slavery  ;  and  one  Quar- 
terly Meeting  is  said  to  have  actually  returned  it  to  the 
Meeting  for  Sufferings.  Here  was  an  evidence  of  the 
strength  of  feeling  on  the  subject,  which  might  well  have 
warned  the  leaders  of  the  Yearly  Meeting  not  to  pro- 
ceed to  uncalled  for  extremities  of  opposition. 

It  is  evident  that  the  minds  of  many  on  both  sides  of 
these  questions  had  become  greatly  excited.  In  a  pro- 
fessed narrative  of  this  secession,  published  anonymously 
in  the  Philadelphia  "  Friend,"  vol.  xvii,  pages  85  and  93 
(which  account,  when  confronted  with  the  various  docu- 
ments issued  by  both  parties,  seems  to  be  extremely  one- 
sided and  unfair),  it  is  stated  that  "at  a  meeting  of  the 
African  Committee  of  Indiana  Yearly  Meeting,  held  in 
the  tenth  month,  1840,  it  was  supposed  that  nearly  one 
thousand  persons  attended;  a  very  small  part  of  whom 
belonged  to  it."  No  reason  is  there  given  for  this,  and 
it  is  left  as  a  stigma  upon  their  zeal.    It  is,  however, 


18 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IS     [CHAP.  VIII. 


most  probable  that  the  large  number  then  in  attendance 
was  to  be  accounted  for  by  the  fact  of  their  being  then 
assembled  at  Richmond  to  attend  the  Yearly  Meeting, 
and  that  Friends  interested  had  been  encouraged  to  sit 
with  the  committee.  Their  presence  does  not  appear  to 
have  been  then  objected  to,  and  it  is  stated  that  they 
silently  witnessed  the  transactions  of  the  committee.  At 
all  events,  the  excitement  was  doubtless  partly  due  to 
the  great  opposition  made  under  certain  influences  to 
what  they  considered  a  rightful  liberty  of  action  accord- 
ing to  their  conscientious  convictions.  There  was  in- 
deed great  danger  of  natural  feelings  on  both  sides  be- 
coming unduly  wrought  up,  to  the  loss  of  the  spiritual 
life  on  the  one  side,  and  to  the  setting  aside  of  divine 
wisdom  and  heavenly  charity  on  the  other. 

The  abovementioned  account  in  "  The  Friend,"  speak- 
ing of  the  African  Committee,  goes  on  to  say:  "At  the 
"sitting  above  alluded  to,  subjects  entirely  foreign  to  its 
"  duties,  and  with  which  the  Yearly  Meeting  had  not 
"  intrusted  it,  were  brought  forward  for  discussion — ar- 
"  tides  produced  under  slave  labor  were  denounced  as 
"'prize  goods,'  and  those  who  used  them  charged  with 
"  being  the  abettors  of  slavery  and  the  slave  trade.  The 
"  committee  was  at  length  compelled  to  exclude  those 
"  matters  which  were  foreign  to  their  appointment ;  and 
"  while  they  spoke  respectfully  and  tenderly  of  the  con- 
scientious scruples  which  any  might  feel  on  this  sub- 
"ject,  and  admitted  their  right  to  conform  to  them,  they 
"could  not  admit  the  propriety  of  representing  those 
"  who  felt  no  such  scruple,  as  violators  of  the  discipline 
"  and  testimonies  of  the  Society." 

The  friends  of  the  antislavery  cause  gave  a  somewhat 


1840.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


19 


different  account  of  the  circumstances.*  Speaking  of 
the  formation  of  free-labor  associations,  they  say  that 
this  committee  "had  the  subject  before  them  in  1840, 
"and  recommended  friends  of  the  different  branches  of 
"  the  committee  to  endeavor  to  ascertain  what  facilities 
"  existed  for  obtaining  free-labor  goods,  and  report  to  the 
"  next  general  meeting  of  the  committee.  This,  to  some 
"  extent,  was  attended  to  in  one  of  the  Quarterly  Meet- 
"  ings,  and  a  communication  was  produced  to  the  com- 
"  mittee  the  next  year  (1841),  from  Abraham  L.  Pennock, 
"  of  Philadelphia,  detailing,  to  some  extent,  the  opportu- 
"  nities  for  obtaining  such  goods.  But  the  change  in  the 
"  ruling  influence,  already  alluded  to,  was  such,  that  even 
"the  reading  of  this  document,  produced  according  to 
"  instruction,  was  obtained  with  difficulty,  and  the  whole 
"movement  on  the  subject  endeavored  to  be  quashed. 
"  A  document  was  produced  to  this  meeting  of  the  com- 
"  mittee,  from  one  of  its  branches,  showing,  in  a  forcible 
"  manner,  the  necessity  of  Friends  avoiding  the  purchase 
"and  consumption  of  articles  produced  by  slaves.  Its 
"being  introduced,  and  read  in  that  body,  produced  a 
"  most  astonishing  state  of  excitement  therein." 

The  Yearly  Meeting  in  1841  adopted  and  issued 
another  minute  of  advice,  prepared  by  the  Meeting  for 
Sufferings,  discouraging  the  joining  of  mixed  associations 
and  the  opening  of  meeting-houses  for  antislavery  meet- 
ings or  lectures,  as  being  "of  hurtful  tendency  to  the 
members."! 

*  See  Walter  Edgerton's  "  History  of  the  Separation  in  Indiana  Yearly  Meet- 
ing of  Friends,  on  the  Antislavery  Question."   Cincinnati,  1856,  p.  43. 

t  When  this  minute  wa*  under  consideration  in  the  Meeting  for  Sufferings, 
Charles  Osboin  opposed  it;  and  being  apprehensive  that  the  Society  would,  by 
such  action,  seem  to  be  identified  with  the  opponents  of  the  antislavery  cause, 


20 


THE  SOCIETY  OP  FRIENDS  IN     [CHAP.  Vllf. 


This  action  of  the  Yearly  Meeting,  and  the  great  pre- 
ponderance of  feeling  which  now  appeared  in  that  body 
to  discountenance  active  participation  in  the  antislavery 
cause,  much  disappointed  its  advocates.  They  had 
fondly  hoped,  from  the  large  numbers  of  Friends  who 
had  recently  attended  a  convention  on  the  subject,  held 
at  the  time  of  Spiceland  Quarterly  Meeting,  and  the  in- 
terest manifested  by  many  in  the  concern,  that  they 
might  obtain,  during  the  time  of  the  Yearly  Meeting,  a 
powerful  demonstration  in  favor  of  free-labor  produce, 
by  holding  a  second  such  convention  then  at  Richmond. 
But  this  was  frowned  down  entirely.  Some  who  had 
been  very  zealous  for  it,  now  "  when  they  saw  the 
amount  of  influence  arrayed  against  the  cause,  turned 
immediately  round,  and  joined  its  opponents.  Many 
others  staggered,  faltered,  and  finally  stumbled  over  on 
to  the  same  ground,  or  at  best  into  a  state  of  acquies- 
cence."* 

The  Yearly  Meeting  also,  in  this  document,  though 
without  mentioning  the  name  of  the  writer,  censured 
the  circulation,  by  its  members,  of  an  address,  by  Joseph 
Sturge,  of  England,  to  Friends  in  the  United  States,  in- 
citing them  to  greater  consistency  and  earnestness  in 
maintaining  the  testimony  against  slavery.  This  ad- 
dress had  greatly  encouraged  the  antislavery  advocates, 
and  they  were  accordingly  much  displeased  at  the  disap- 
probation of  it  thus  published  by  the  Yearly  Meeting. 

he  requested  that  the  meeting  would  issue  to  the  public  a  declaration  what  plan 
of  emancipation  they  did  approve  of;  seeing  there  was  so  much  diversity,  some 
advocating  colonization,  some  gradual  emancipation,  and  others  immediate  and 
unconditional  freedom.  But  the  meeting  refused  to  say  anything  on  the  sub- 
ject.   See  Edgerton's  History,  p.  234. 

*  Walter  Edgerton's  History  of  the  Separation,  p.  48. 


1841.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


21 


It  was  a  perfectly  temperate  and  somewhat  affectionately 
couched  address,  and  there  does  not  appear  to  be  any- 
thing in  it,  of  itself,  inconsistent  with  our  religious  prin- 
ciples or  testimonies ;  so  that  it  seems  to  have  been  a 
very  uncalled  for  and  unwise  act  in  the  controlling  par- 
ties of  the  Yearly  Meeting,  thus  publicly  to  have  de- 
nounced it,  though  some  of  it  was  doubtless  construed 
by  them  as  calling  them  to  account  for  their  very  ques- 
tionable attitude  in  regard  to  the  righteous  testimony 
against  slavery. 

Some  associations  had  been  formed  among  the  mem- 
bers exclusively,  with  a  view  to  avoid  going  contrary  to 
the  advice  against  mixing  with  others;  but,  to  their  as- 
tonishment, this  was  also  now  objected  to  by  leading 
members,  who  took  the  ground  that  "  meetings  for  dis- 
cipline were  the  places  to  labor  in  this  cause ;"  which 
might  have  had  some  force,  if  those  meetings  for  dis- 
cipline had  retained  sufficient  life  and  faith  to  enable 
them  to  move  forward  according  to  the  pointings  of  best 
wisdom  in  this  concern. 

Some  of  the  more  ardent  advocates  of  the  cause  soon 
prepared  to  act  on  their  own  responsibility,  where  they 
had  control  of  meeting-houses,  in  disregard  of  the  ad- 
vice  of  the  Yearly  Meeting,  considering,  as  they  said, 
that  such  advice  was  "  contrary  to  the  usage  of  the 
Society,"  and  would  be  "of  hurtful  tendency  to  the 
members."  They  were  told,  however,  by  some,  that  "  un- 
conditional submission  was  absolutely  necessary  to  the 
existence  of  religious  society;"  by  others,  that  "even  if 
the  meeting  was  wrong  in  its  advice,  we  must  submit, 
and  throw  the  responsibility  on  the  body ;"  by  another 
class,  that  the  advice  was  right,  and  that  submission  to 


22 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN     [CHAP.  VIII. 


the  Spirit  of  Truth  would  lead  to  submission  to  it;  and 
again  by  others,  with  considerable  pertinacity,  that  they 
"  had  no  right  to  move  in  advance  of  the  body — that 
even  admitting  them  to  be  in  the  right,  individuals  ought 
not  to  move  in  the  matter  till  the  Yearly  Meeting  was 
prepared  for  it — that  abstinence  from  slave-toil  products 
should  not  even  be  named  as  necessary,  because  the 
Yearly  Meeting  had  not  yet  taken  it  up." 

By  the  time  that  the  Yearly  Meeting  assembled  in 
the  tenth  month,  1842,  the  state  of  feeling  on  both  sides 
seemed  to  be  arriving  at  its  culminating  point.  Soon 
after  the  meeting  opened,  it  became  apparent  that  an  un- 
derstanding had  been  come  to  among  some,  that  the 
autislavery  members  should  be,  as  much  as  practicable, 
shut  out  from  serving  on  appointments  during  the  sit- 
tings. A  proposal  was  made,  and  sanctioned  by  those 
who  had  the  control,  that  names  offered  on  committees 
should  receive  the  approval  of  several  Friends  before 
being  taken  by  the  clerk.*  But  now  came  the  most 
aggravating  of  all  the  acts  of  the  ruling  party  in  the 
Yearly  Meeting — an  act  altogether  irregular  and  un- 
sanctioned by  discipline  or  usage— and  which  unhappily 
drove  the  antislavery  poi'tion  of  the  members  to  the 
extreme  measure  of  a  separation.  The  Meeting  for  Suf- 
ferings reported  eight  of  its  members  by  name,  as  dis- 
qualified to  fill  the  stations  they  occupied  in  that  body, 
without  assigning  any  cause  of  disqualification ;  but  it 
was  well  understood  to  be  on  account  of  their  disap- 
proval of  the  advices  against  antislavery  meetings. 
The  Yearly  Meeting  approved  the  dismissal  of  these 


*  \V.  Edgerton's  History  of  the  Separation,  p.  58. 


1842.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


23 


eight  members  from  the  Meeting  for  Sufferings,  and 
directed  the  appointment  of  others ;  though  their  Dis- 
cipline recognized  no  such  course,  unless  for  death  or 
removal,  or  delinquency  in  attendance  of  the  meetings. 
It  refused  also  the  earnest  and  reasonable  request  of 
Charles  Osborn,  one  of  the  members  thus  dismissed 
from  service,  that  the  cause  of  a  course  so  extraordinary 
and  injurious  should  be  added  to  the  record.*  His  re- 
marks were  as  follows :  "  I  have  but  one  request  to 
make  of  the  meeting.  I  am  here  reported,  and  several 
of  my  brethren  with  me,  as  disqualified  members  of  the 
Meeting  for  Sufferings.  My  request  is,  that  the  cause 
of  disqualification  may  be  put  upon  minute,  that  wher- 
ever it  may  come,  there  the  cause  may  also  appear.  It 
is  our  due ;  justice  demands  it ;  the  cause  of  truth 
and  righteousness  demands  it ;  and  the  cause  of  suffer- 
ing, bleeding  humanity  demands  it.  I  have  no  wish 
to  cast  reflections  on  anybody,  but  in  my  opinion,  the 
proceedings  are  unjust,  oppressive,  cruel,  and  unauthor- 
ized by  the  Discipline."!  If  any  °f  his  friends  feared 
that  C.  Osborn  was  in  danger  of  losing  ground  through 
allowing  his  mind  to  be  unduly  engrossed  with  the  con- 
templation of  one  particular  form  of  human  wrongs  and 
the  means  of  remedy  (which  is  a  possible  supposition), 
this  was  not  the  way  to  rescue  him  from  that  danger. 
In  the  absence  of  any  overt  act  of  disunity  or  disorder, 
it  was  a  cruel  injustice. 

What  would  have  been  thought,  if  the  Yearly  Meet- 

*  C.  Osborn  declares  in  his  Journal  (p.  448),  that  he  had  never  been  informed 
that  he  was  about  to  be  dismissed,  nor  been  requested  to  ask  to  be  released,  until 
the  deed  was  done. 

t  Edgerton's  HLstory,  p.  235. 


24 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN     [CHAP.  VIII. 


ing  of  Philadelphia  had  undertaken  publicly  to  censure 
and  put  out  of  all  qualification  for  service,  merely  on 
this  account,  such  men  as  Abraham  L.  Pennock  or 
Enoch  Lewis,  whose  testimony  against  slavery  and  slave 
products  was  equally  marked  and  decided? 

The  Yearly  Meeting  likewise  issued  an  "  Epistle  of 
Advice  to  subordinate  meetings  and  Friends  individu- 
ally," warning  them  against  the  zeal  of  the  antislavery 
societies,  and  the  "pernicious  effects"  of  those  "books 
and  papers,  which  have  the  tendency  to  set  one  part  of 
Society  against  another."  This  epistle  contained  the 
following  remarkable  advice  :  "  Friends  are  advised  to 
"be  weighty  and  deliberate  in  making  appointments 
"to  any  of  the  important  stations  and  committees  in 
"Society,  so  that  faithful  and  trusty  Friends  may  be 
"  chosen  ;  as  we  believe  that  those  who  have  distin- 
guished themselves  by  opposition  or  disregard  to  the 
"advices  and  travail  of  the  body,  are  manifestly  unsuit- 
able for  important  services  in  it,  while  they  remain  in 
"  that  situation."  A  committee  of  twenty-two  men 
and  women  was  appointed  to  see  that  the  above  advice 
was  attended  to  in  the  subordinate  meetings ;  that  is,  to 
enforce  the  setting  aside  of  all  such  of  their  fellow- 
rnembers  who  believed  it  incumbent  upon  them,  for  a 
faithful  and  efficient  maintenance  of  one  of  the  Society's 
well-established  testimonies,  openly  to  join  with  the 
rest  of  their  fellow-citizens  in  protesting  against  the  sin 
of  slavery,  and  that  course  of  conduct  which  kept  it 
alive. 

During  the  course  of  this  Yearly  Meeting,  Henry 
Clay,  of  Kentucky,  who  was  then  a  candidate  for  nomi- 
nation by  one  of  the  national  parties  for  the  office  of 


1842.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


25 


President  of  the  United  States,  was  staying  a  few  days 
at  Richmond  ;  and,  doubtless  with  a  view  to  gain  favor 
among  so  numerous  a  body  of  voters,  announced  his 
intention  of  attending  the  Friends'  meeting  for  worship 
on  First-day.  No  objection  could,  of  course,  be  prop- 
erly made  to  such  attendance.  But  the  antislavery 
party,  who  knew  that  his  example  as  a  slaveholder  and 
a  duellist  was  by  no  means  one  for  Friends  consistently 
to  sanction,  were  additionally  grieved  by  observing 
the  great  attentions,  nay  the  unbecoming  adulation  paid 
by  a  large  number  of  the  members  to  such  a  man  on 
that  conspicuous  occasion,  under  all  the  circumstances. 
A  petition  had  been  presented  to  him  the  previous  day, 
signed  by  nearly  two  thousand  individuals,  requesting 
him  to  grant  liberty  to  his  slaves.  In  his  reply  he  had 
said,  "I  own  about  fifty  slaves.  I  consider  them  as  my 
property.  We  have  an  idea  that  whatever  the  law  se- 
cures as  property,  is  property."  He  owned  that  slavery 
was  an  evil,  but  said  that  "the  slaves  must  be  prepared 
for  freedom  before  they  can  receive  that  great  boon ; 
they  must  have  moral  cultivation  :"  adding,  in  confirm- 
ation of  this  procrastinating  policy,  "The  Society  of 
Friends  take  the  right  stand  in  relation  to  this  subject !  "* 
After  this,  on  First-day,  he  was  conveyed  to  the  meeting 
by  the  clerk  of  the  Yearly  Meeting  in  his  carriage,  and 
placed  "  in  one  of  the  most  conspicuous  places  in  the 
house,"  and  at  the  close  of  the  meeting  was  as  conspicu- 
ously saluted  by  great  numbers  of  the  members. f  All 
this  was  particularly  aggravating  to  the  antislavery 

*  Edgcrton's  History  of  the  Separation,  p.  85. 

t  Ibid.,  p.  300.  The;  "gathered  round  him  in  an  almost  impenetrable  crowd," 
and  "  one  or  more  women  mounted  over  the  backs  of  the  benches,"  in  order  to 
get  to  hi  in. 

VOL.  II. — 3 


26 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IX     [CHAP.  VIII. 


party,  who  considered  it  as  an  additional  6vidence  that 
the  faithful  testimony  against  this  enormous  evil  had 
fallen  in  the  streets  ;  for  the  "poor  man  in  vile  raiment," 
who  should  have  come  into  their  assembly,  they  thought, 
would  not  have  been  thus  caressed ;  and  they  remem- 
bered with  wounded  feelings,  how  an  antislavery  advo- 
cate from  the  East,  "a  man  of  irreproachable  character," 
which  could  not  be  said  of  Henry  Clay,  had  recently 
been  treated  with  utter  contempt,  and  their  meeting- 
house doors  closed  against  him. 

The  "  Free  Labor  Advocate,"  a  paper  published  by 
some  of  the  antislavery  members,  thus  described  the 
issue  :* 

.  .  .  .  "  Antislavery  Friends  being  thus  proscribed,  and 
"feeling  themselves  virtually  cut  off  from  all  the  benefits  of 
"religious  society,  found  themselves  in  a  very  tried  and  pain- 
"  ful  situation.  Thus  circumstanced,  it  was  perfectly  natural 
"and  entirely  reasonable  that  they  should  desire  to  confer 
"together  for  the  purpose  of  arriving  at  some  conclusion  as 
"  to  the  proper  course  for  them  to  pursue.  With  this  view,  a 
"  Friend  arose  during  the  last  sitting  of  the  Yearly  Meeting, 
"  and  proposed  that  those  Friends  who  were  favorable  to  the 
"antislavery  cause,  and  who  felt  aggrieved  with  the  proceed- 
"  ings  of  the  Yearly  Meeting,  should  remain  in  the  house  at 
"  the  rise  of  the  meeting,  for  the  purpose  of  having  such  a 
"conference.  A  considerable  expression  of  unity  with  the 
"  proposition  was  made,  and  not  one  dissenting  voice  was 
"  heard. 

"  After  the  conclusion  of  the  meeting,  a  large  compan}'  as- 
sembled inside  the  house,  many  others  having  stepped  out 
"  and  not  yet  returned.    Before  any  opportunity  was  had  for 

"conference,  walked  into  the  minister's  gallery, 

"  and,  in  the  name  of  the  Trustees,  demanded  of  those 


*  Edgerton's  History,  p.  61. 


1842.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


27 


"present,  an  immediate  evacuation  of  the  house.  He  first 
"called  them  Friends;  then,  as  if  correcting  himself,  he  said 
"he  did  not  know  whether  they  were  Friends  or  not — he 
"would  call  them  people.  A  Friend  immediately  proposed, 
"  that  as  they  were  arbitrarily  forbidden  the  use  of  the  house 
"  for  the  purpose  of  conferring  together,  those  favorable  to 
"such  a  conference,  meet  at  Newport  (ten  miles  north),  at  9 
"o'clock  next  morning.  The  proposition  was  united  with, 
"and  the  people  retired. 

"Next  morning,  notwithstanding  many  had  from  necessity 
"started  for  home,  a  large  assembly  convened  at  Newport, 
"and  continued  in  conference  till  11  o'clock,  when  it  adjourned 
"till  2  o'clock  p.m.,  to  give  place  to  the  regular  weekday 
"meeting.  From  2  o'clock  the  conference  continued  till  near 

"sunset.    Entire  harmony  prevailed,"  etc  "If  some 

"of  our  opposers  had  been  there,  and  heard  what  we  heard, 
"and  felt  what  we  felt,  they  would  surely  have  been  ashamed 
"of  the  charge  so  often  made  against  us,  of  working  in  our 
" own  strength."  .  .  . 

"At  the  above  conference,  it  was  the  conclusion  of  those 
"  present,  to  wait  until  it  was  known  whether  the  committees 
"  .  .  .  .  from  the  Yearly  Meeting,  etc.,  would  really  carry 
"out  the  prescriptive  measures  as  enjoined  upon  them,  in 
"  removing  from  their  stations  the  antisla  very  part  of  Society, 
"before  any  further  action  should  be  taken." 

Tims  far  they  had  a  right  to  go,  as  members  of  the 
Society  of  Friends,  and  of  Indiana  Yearly  Meeting; 
and  the  refusal  of  the  use  of  the  house  to  them  for  such 
a  purpose  seems  unjustifiable.  In  regard  to  their  further 
steppings,  we  must  bear  in  mind  that  though  they  were 
deeply  aggrieved,  arbitrarily  thrust  aside  by  their  breth- 
ren under  the  plea  of  having  disqualified  themselves, 
and  assailed  by  attempts  to  deprive  them  of  their  liberty 
of  conscientious  action  in  a  matter  involving  the  welfare 
of  millions  of  their  fellow-countrymen  and  women  ;  yet 


28 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN     [CHAP.  VIIT. 


none  of  them  had  as  yet  been  actually  disowned  from 
membership,  nor  had  they  made  use  of  the  right  of  ap- 
peal, the  ordinary  course  guaranteed  by  the  Discipline  in 
cases  of  apprehended  grievance.*  The  Yearly  Meeting 
had  not  yet  taken  the  course  which  it  did  take  a  very 
few  years  afterwards,  in  giving  its  undivided  sanction, 
as  a  body,  to  the  secession  produced  by  the  Gurneyites 
in  New  England,  and  consequently  its  adherence  to  that 
schism  which  resulted  over  the  whole  Society.  The 
antislavery  party  made  no  charge  that  the  Yearly  Meet- 
ing had  departed  in  doctrine  or  in  general  practice,  but 
only  in  regard  to  this  one  testimony,  which,  important 
as  it  was,  was  in  its  nature  only  temporary,  depending 
on  the  uncertain  existence  of  that  great  evil  against 
which  it  contended,  as  subsequent  events  have  shown. 
This,  therefore,  does  not  appear  to  have  been  adequate 
ground  on  which  to  found  a  religious  society  or  church 
of  Christ  distinct  from  others,  for  on  the  success  of  their 
cause  their  distinct  ground  of  union  would  of  course  no 
longer  exist,  and  they  would  find  themselves  without  a 
distinguishing  standard. 

The  Yearly  Meeting  was  wrong  in  its  measures,  and 
at  that  time  seemed  inexorably  fixed  in  its  determination 
to  restrain  them  from  following  the  course  which  they 

*  It  is  worthy  of  Dote  that  in  all  the  documents  of  the  Yearly  Meeting  and 
its  advocates  in  controversy  with  the  Antislavery  Friends  (so  far  as  has  come 
under  notice  of  the  author),  there  is  no  charge  made  against  any  of  the  latter, 
of  having,  in  their  efforts  in  that  cause,  transgressed  the  order  of  the  discipline; 
though  here  and  there  something  like  an  insinuation  to  that  effect  is  hinted; 
which  seems  to  show  that  if  they  could  have  brought  such  a  charge  they  would 
not  have  failed  to  do  so.  The  accusation  against  them  was  their  opposition  to 
the  advice  of  the  Yearly  Meeting.  The  Yearly  Meeting,  if  led  and  qualified 
for  it  by  divine  wisdom  (and  not  otherwise),  had  a  right  to  issue  such  advice; 
but  it  had  no  power  to  enforce  obedience  to  it  until  such  advice  was  regularly 
established  as  a  rule  of  discipline. 


1843.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


29 


believed  they  were  required  by  duty  to  pursue.  Yet 
they  knew  not  but  that  a  little  longer  patience  and  wil- 
lingness to  suffer  obloquy  and  persecution  in  the  per- 
formance of  clearly  defined  duty  (and  none  other  than 
this  could  be  required  of  them)  might  gradually  have 
brought  about  a  different  state  of  feeling  among  their 
fellow-members,  and  induced  the  Yearly  Meeting  to  re- 
store that  liberty,  of  which  the  late  restrictive  measures 
had  unjustly  deprived  them.  We  may  at  least  suppose 
that  their  confidence  in  the  goodness  of  their  cause 
might  have  induced  a  trust,  that  with  continued  faithful- 
ness, with  a  single  eye  to  divine  direction  and  help,  the 
truth  would  eventually  prevail. 

After  waiting  till  the  close  of  the  year,  and  finding 
that  the  proscriptive  measures  still  went  on,  with  a 
manifestation  on  the  part  of  the  Yearly  Meeting's  com- 
mittee "to  carry  out  their  instructions  to  the  very  let- 
ter,"* those  of  the  party  residing  at  and  near  New- 
port, in  Wayne  County,  Indiana,  met  in  convention  on 
the  fourth  of  first  month,  1843,  to  "  take  into  consid- 
eration their  peculiarly  tried  situation,"  with  a  view  to 
adopt  "such  measures  as,  in  the  openings  of  Truth, 
might  appear  productive  of  unity  and  harmony  in  their 
proceedings  for  the  promotion  of  the  antislavery  cause, 
and  the  security  of  the  privileges  of  religious  society." 

This  meeting,  as  the  result  of  its  deliberations,  issued 
a  call  for  a  more  general  convention  of  the  members  of 
Indiana  Yearly  Meeting,  to  be  held  at  Newport,  on  the 
6th  of  the  second  month,  with  the  avowed  object  of 
"  deliberating  upon  the  propriety  of  reorganizing  the 


*  Edgurtou'.s  History,  p.  G2. 


30 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN     [CHAP.  VIII. 


Yearly  Meeting  of  Indiana  upon  the  true  principles  and 
in  accordance  with  the  discipline  and  usages  of  the 
Society  of  Friends,  and  in  unity  with  the  practice  of  the 
Yearly  Meeting  of  London  and  Dublin."  In  this  call, 
they  complain  bitterly  of  the  proscriptive  measures  put 
in  force  against  them,  declaring  that  "  measures  have 
been  set  on  foot,  and  are  being  carried  out  in  practice,  to 
exclude  us  from  participating  in  the  affairs  of  Society ; 
to  remove  all  clerks,  overseers,  members  of  committees, 
and  ministers  and  elders  from  their  stations,  and  to  place 
us  before  the  public  under  the  character  of  offenders, 
lying  under  the  censure  of  the  church." 

Charles  Osborn,  who  was  then  residing  at  Young's 
Prairie,  in  Michigan,  now  sent  for  publication  in  the 
"  Free  Labor  Advocate,"  a  declaration  of  his  sentiments 
and  position  on  the  subject  of  slavery,  earnestly  depre- 
cating "this  great  iniquity,"  as  "utterly  irreconcilable 
with  the  gospel,"  and  quoting  some  of  the  Society's 
standing  declarations  on  the  subject  in  the  Discipline  of 
Indiana  Yearly  Meeting,  with  the  view  to  show  "  that 
he  was  engaged  in  carrying  out  the  very  principles  the 
Society  adopted  in  former  days." 

The  convention  met  at  the  time  and  place  proposed, 
"a  considerable  number  of  Friends"  being  present. 
After  two  days'  deliberation,  they  made  a  minute,  in 
which  they  said  :  "In  consequence  of  the  departure  of 
Indiana  Yearly  Meeting,  etc.,  ....  it  was  the  unani- 
mous conclusion  that  the  circumstances  under  which  we 
are  now  placed,  render  it  indispensably  necessary  to 
separate  ourselves  therefrom.  We,  therefore,  now,  the 
7th  day  of  second  month,  1843,  associate  ourselves 
together  as  a  religious  society  in  the  capacity  of  a 


1843.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


31 


Yearly  Meeting,  under  the  title  of  Indiana  Yearly  Meet- 
ing of  Antislavery  Friends,"  etc  

Sundry  arrangements  were  then  made  in  the  way  of 
organizing  the  body  anew ;  epistles  were  addressed  to 
the  various  Yearly  Meetings  of  Friends  ;  a  Declaration 
respecting  their  position  was  adopted  for  publication ; 
and  a  conclusion  come  to,  to  meet  again  in  the  ninth 
month,  and  so  continue  as  a  Yearly  Meeting  for  the 
future. 

Here  was  undeniably  a  launching  forth  as  a  new  and 
distinct  religious  community.  Was  not  this  a  great 
mistake?  In  making  their  claim  on  London  and  Dub- 
lin Yearly  Meetings  for  recognition,  on  the  ground  of 
sympathy  of  feeling  and  similarity  of  action  in  regard 
to  slavery,  they  were  overstepping  the  bounds  of  ordi- 
nary probability,  inasmuch  as  they  might  have  known 
beforehand,  that  Dublin  would  do  nothing  new  without 
the  example  of  London,  and  that  London  (whose  emis- 
sary, J.  J.  Gurney,  had  so  recently  been  received  with 
open  arms  by  the  whole  Yearly  Meeting  of  Indiana) 
was  too  "  wise  in  its  own  generation  "  to  cast  away  from 
its  communion  the  largest  Yearly  Meeting  in  the  world, 
supposed  to  number  at  that  time  about  25,000  members, 
for  the  sake  of  a  small  company  who  had  separated 
from  it,  no  matter  for  how  grave  a  cause.  The  various 
Yearly  Meetings  in  the  United  States  were  decidedly  in 
favor  of  the  Yearly  Meeting  of  Indiana,  and  disposed 
to  sanction  its  course,  either  from  ignorance  or  prejudice, 
or  various  other  reasons,  from  which  they  were  not 
likely  to  be  turned  away,  in  favor  of  a  movement  the 
necessity  of  which  appeared  to  them  so  questionable. 


32 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN     [CHAP.  VIII. 


They  were  thus  left  to  find  their  own  way  as  a  distinct 
body. 

It  will  not  be  needful  to  follow  minutely  the  proceed- 
ings of  either  party  after  this,  except  so  far  as  to  show 
what  became  of  the  antislavery  organization.  Their 
declaration  was  followed  by  a  reply  from  the  Meeting 
for  Sufferings  of  Indiana  Yearly  Meeting ;  and  a  succes- 
sion of  controversial  essays  ensued,  one  after  another 
for  many  months,  in  which  it  is  due  to  the  antislavery 
party  to  say  that  in  argument  they  had  greatly  the  ad- 
vantage. Their  opponents  said  many  things  well  calcu- 
lated to  persuade  strangers  that  they  had  taken  a  right 
course,  and  were  still  faithfully  concerned  in  regard  to 
slavery,  until  their  statements  were  exposed  as  palpably 
fallacious  and  incorrect,  by  the  lucid  replies  which  were 
plentifully  showered  upon  them.*  As  the  respective 
grounds  of  action  have  already  been  described,  it  is  not 
needful  here  to  rehearse  the  contents  of  these  numerous 
documents,  whicli  may  be  seen  by  those  interested,  as 
published  in  full  in  the  History  of  these  transactions 
which  we  have  so  often  referred  to. 

But,  while  the  advocates  of  the  Yearly  Meeting  con- 
tinued the  controversy,  the  members  and  subordinate 
meetings,  when  they  found  that  the  secession  had  re- 
sulted in  a  regularly  organized  body,  and  that  many 
more  might  on  that  account  be  induced  to  join  its  ranks, 
changed  their  course  in  regard  to  the  proscriptive  ad- 
vices of  the  Yearly  Meeting,  and  allowed  them  to  re- 

*  As  an  exemplification  of  this,  the  attention  of  such  readers  as  may  have 
access  to  Edgerton's  Uistory  of  this  separation  is  particularly  commended  to 
"An  Expostulation,"  etc.  (page  242,  etc.),  signed  by  George  Evans,  and  "a  reply  " 
tj*:i  itu  by  Walter  Edgerton  (page  257,  etc.),  in  which  the  plausible  statements 
^a%3  reasonings  of  the  former  are  totally  demolished,  and  proved  to  be  fallacious 
and  untrustworthy. 


1844.]  THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


33 


main  a  dead  letter.  This  may  have  been  from  motives 
of  policy  with  some,  or  a  sincere  relenting  on  the  part 
of  others ;  but  the  Yearly  Meeting  never  rescinded  its 
irregular  action. 

The  Antislavery  Yearly  Meeting  was  now  composed 
of  four  Quarterly  and  ten  Monthly  Meetings,  and  prob- 
ably consisted  of  about  two  thousand  members.  The 
anonymous  account  in  the  Philadelphia  "  Friend,"  be- 
fore alluded  to  (which  was  evidently  indited  by  an 
opponent),  represents  them  as  being  "nearly  seven  hun- 
dred adults,"  which  is  perhaps  a  small  estimate.  The 
reports  sent  up  to  their  Yearly  Meeting,  in  the  year 
1847,  stated  that  there  were  755  children  of  their 
members  of  suitable  age  to  go  to  school.*  How  many 
there  were  between  this  and  adult  age,  and  also  of 
infants  and  children  too  young  for  schooling,  does  not 
appear  in  the  accounts,  but  probably  amounted  to  sev- 
eral hundreds ;  so  that  it  may  not  be  unreasonable  to 
suppose  that  the  whole  number  was  about  the  above 
amount. 

In  the  ninth  month  of  1843,  their  Yearly  Meeting 
issued  a  "  Declaration  of  Sentiment,"  in  justification  of 
their  views  and  position  ;  which  is,  even  at  this  day, 
well  worthy  of  attentive  perusal,  as  a  vindication  of 
their  course  from  the  insinuation  that  they  were  dis- 
carding the  primitive  doctrine  of  Friends,  in  regard  to 
immediate  revelation  by  the  Holy  Spirit. f 

In  1 84 1,  their  Meeting  for  Sufferings  addressed  that 
of  London,  and  subsequently  their  Yearly  Meeting 

*  See  the  manuscript  Records  of  the  Yearly  Meeting  of  ADtislavery  Friends, 
page  209. 

t  The  whole  document  may  be  seen  in  Edgerton's  History,  page  186,  etc. 
VOL.  II. — 4 


34 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN     [CHAP.  VIII. 


issued  a  document  addressed  to  the  members  of  London 
Yearly  Meeting  individually,  seeing  that  their  com- 
munications to  the  body  were  not  accepted.  While  the 
Yearly  Meeting  took  no  notice  of  their  appeals  to  its 
sympathy,  grounded  on  a  similarity  of  action  in  regard 
to  slavery,  it  is  not  improbable  that  many  of  the  indi- 
vidual members  felt  that  something  was  due  to  their 
transatlantic  former  brethren.  However  that  may  have 
been,  the  Yearly  Meeting  of  London,  in  1845,  had  the 
subject  under  consideration,  and,  as  the  result  of  their 
deliberations,  adopted  an  Address  "to  those  who  have 
recently  withdrawn  from  Indiana  Yearly  Meeting  of 
Friends,"  and  appointed  a  delegation,  consisting  of 
William  Forster,  Josiah  Forster,  George  Stacey,  John 
Allen,  and  Joseph  Bewley,  to  present  it  in  person. 

The  Antislavery  Friends,  hearing  of  this  action  of 
London  Yearly  Meeting,  entertained  hopes  that  now  at 
length  English  Friends  were  about  to  do  them  justice, 
or  at  least  to  search  out  the  real  merits  of  the  case,  and 
perhaps  act  as  mediators  to  produce  a  different  state  of 
things.  How  great  then  was  their  disappointment,  when 
they  found  that  this  delegation  came  not  as  mediators  at 
all,  nor  with  any  purpose  of  going  into  an  investigation, 
or  seeking  to  know,  or  even  opening  their  ears  to  hear 
what  they  might  have  to  say  in  their  own  behalf;  but 
simply  to  exhort  them  to  go  back  to  the  meetings  of 
"  the  body."  With  what  feelings  must  they  have  read 
the  culminating  exhortation  of  the  whole  address,  en- 
forced as  it  was  by  no  adequate  argument  or  convincing 
reason  : — "  Accept,  we  beseech  you,  our  earnest  and  affec- 
tionate entreaty,  that  you  will  relinquish  your  separate 
meetings  for  this  purpose  (divine  worship), — will  wholly 


1«45.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


35 


discontinue  them,  and  again  assemble  for  the  public 
worship  of  Almighty  God  with  those  with  whom  you 
have  been  accustomed  thus  to  meet." 

Four  of  the  delegation  arrived  at  Richmond,  Indiana, 
in  time  to  attend  the  Yearly  Meeting  in  the  tenth 
month  ;  attended  that  meeting,  and  produced  to  it  their 
minute  of  appointment.  Making  some  remarks  after- 
wards on  the  object  of  their  mission,  they  requested  the 
appointment  of  a  committee,  to  give  them  such  informa- 
tion as  they  might  need;  which  was  done,  t he  Yearly 
Meeting  "  taking  the  precaution  to  have  every  name 
approved,  before  it  was  taken  down  by  the  clerk."* 

The  delegation  had  several  interviews  with  this  com- 
mittee, and  attended  the  Yearly  Meeting  throughout, 
but  do  not  appear  to  have  indicated  to  it  anything  like 
a  doubt  of  its  entire  faithfulness  in  regard  to  the  testi- 
mony against  slavery,  or  any  desire  to  have  the  variant 
parties  together,  face  to  face,  as  gospel  order  would  have 
suggested,  to  find  out  the  truth,  and  reconcile  the  differ- 
ence. They  asked  for  no  committee  from  the  Anti- 
slavery  Friends.  They  consulted  with  the  adherents  of 
the  Yearly  Meeting,  and  with  them  alone;  and  after  its 
close,  went  to  Newport,  attended  the  "  body  "  meeting 
for  worship  there,  and  paid  a  social  visit  of  perhaps 
half  an  hour  to  Charles  Osborn,  who  was  then  staying 
at  the  house  of  Levi  Coffin.  They  do  not  appear  to 
have  sought  out  any  other  of  the  Antislavery  Friends 
on  that  occasion — some,  however,  were  present  at  this 
half  hour's  interview — but  returned  the  same  evening 
to  Richmond,  with  the  intention  of  leaving  for  White 


*  Edgertou's  History,  page  330 


36 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN     [CHAP.  VIII. 


Lick  the  next  day.  On  learning  this,  several  Friends 
of  the  antislavery  meeting  felt  that  it  would  be  best  to 
communicate  their  views  to  them  before  their  departure 
for  the  West,  and  accordingly  drew  up  the  following 
letter,  which  was  presented  to  the  delegation  the  next 
day,  signed  by  fourteen  of  their  number. 

"  "William  Forster,  Josiah  Forster,  George  St acey, 
"  and  John  Allen— Esteemed  Friends  :  Being  solemnly 
''impressed  with  the  importance  of  your  mission  to  this  coun- 
"  try,  and  duly  appreciating  the  arduous  nature  of  the  under- 
"  taking,  we  cannot  hut  express  our  earnest  desire  and  hope 
"that  your  labors  maybe  blessed  to  the  promotion  of  the 
"  cause  of  truth  and  righteousness,  and  that  when  you  return 
"to  your  own  land,  you  may  bear  with  you  the  consoling  re- 
"  flection  that,  through  the  Divine  aid,  you  have  been  instru- 
' '  mental  in  uniting  Friends  in  this  country,  in  a  hearty  and 
"efficient  co-operation  in  their  endeavors  to  undo  the  heavy 
' '  burdens,  and  to  let  the  oppressed  millions  in  this  land  of 
"  boasted  liberty  go  free. 

"As  you  must  be  sensible  that  we,  as  Antislavery  Friends, 
"  feel  a  deep  interest  in  the  progress  and  final  result  of  your 
"labors,  we  hope  you  will  duly  appreciate  our  motives,  and 
"at  least  give  us  credit  for  candor,  in  making  to  you  the  fol- 
"  lowing  suggestions : 

"We  understand  that  your  object  is  to  endeavor  to  reunite 
"  Friends  of  Indiana  Yearly  Meeting,  who  have  been  sepa- 
"  rated  in  consequence  of  different  sentiments  as  to  their  proper 
"  course  on  the  antislavery  question,  and  of  the  measures  which 
"resulted  from  this  difference  of  opinion.  We  are  now  two 
"  Yearly  Meetings,  and  we  have  understood  the  object  of  your 
"  visit  to  be,  to  act  as  mediators  between  us,  that  we  may  be- 
"  come  united  again.  !Need  we  suggest  to  3rou  the  propriety 
"of  endeavoring  to  stand,  as  much  as  possible,  uncommitted 
"to  either  side,  and  so  far  as  information  may  be  wanted,  to 
"endeavor  to  procure  it  in  that  way  which  shall  be  least  likely 
"to  lead  you  to  partial  conclusions,  or  to  give  either  party 
"  room  to  distrust  your  impartiality  ? 


1845.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


37 


"Now,  so  far  as  we  have  understood  your  course,  since  en- 
"  terin<j  upon  the  object  of  your  mission,  and  your  plans  for 
"the  future,  we  feel  hound  to  say  we  cannot  view  them  in  a 
"light  that  is  satisfactory. 

"  You  have  thrown  yourselves,  as  it  were,  into  the  bosom 
"of  one  of  the  parties,  to  the  neglect  almost  entirely  of  the 
"other ;  the  only  exception,  that  we  know  of,  being  a  visit  of 
"a  few  minutes  to  Charles  Osborn.  You  attended  their 
"Yearly  Meeting  throughout,  and  requested  the  appointment 
"of  a  committee  of  information,  with  which  committee,  we 
"understand,  you  have  consulted  as  to  your  future  operations  ; 
"  thus  giving  strength  to  the  idea  that  you  are  altogether  on 
"  their  side.  The  result  of  your  councils,  so  far  as  we  under- 
"  stand  your  plan  of  future  operations,  appears  to  us  excep- 
"tionable  in  several  particulars.  We  understand  that  you 
"expect  to  call  Antislavery  Friends  together  in  their  respec- 
"  tive  neighborhoods,  beginning  with  some  of  the  remote  and 
"small  meetings,  and  to  read  to  them  the  Address  from  the 
"London  Yearly  Meeting. 

"Our  objection  to  this  course  will  suggest  itself  to  your 
"minds  without  our  naming  it.  It  may  be  a  master  stroke  of 
"policy  to  attack  our  outposts,  for  the  purpose  of  weakening 
"our  forces,  in  an  attempt  to  destroy  our  organization,  if  that 
"is  the  object  aimed  at ;  but  we  very  much  doubt  whether  it 
"is  tbe  course  that  can  be  reconciled  with  the  object  of  your 
"  mission,  as  generally  understood.  Here,  or  at  least  in  this 
"vicinity,  is  the  great  body  of  Antislavery  Friends — here  our 
"  Yearly  Meeting  is  held — here  it  was  expected  you  would 
"  meet  us  in  council,  and  for  this  purpose  our  aged  Friend 
"Charles  Osborn  is  here,  not  doubting  that  if  you  had  any- 
"  thing  for  us,  here  would  be  the  place  to  receive  it.  And 
"here,  still  seems  to  us,  is  at  least  the  place  to  begin.  We 
"  do  not  presume  to  dictate,  but  we  take  the  liberty  to  ask  you 
"  to  reconsider  your  proposed  plan.  Whatever  course  you  may 
"see  proper  to  pursue  toward  Antislavery  Friends,  or  what- 
ever advice  you  may  have  to  give  them,  or  propositions  to 
"  make  to  them,  we  think  it  reasonable  that  they  should  be 
"commenced  here,  instead  of  at  our  remote  and  small  meet- 


38 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FUI ENDS  IX     [('HAP.  VIH. 


"  ings.  And  especially,  if  you  intend  to  convene  Antislavery 
"  Friends  to  hear  the  Address,  we  would  request  you  to  com- 
"  mence  here. 

"  In  conclusion,  dear  Friends,  we  would  suggest  to  3-011,  that 
"  if  you  persist  in  that  course  which  evidently  implies  a  design 
"  to  weaken  us,  hy  operating  upon  our  remote  meetings  or 
"  outposts,  we  shall  feel  ourselves  justifiable  in  taking  such 
"  measures  as  may  appear  to  be  advisable,  to  guard  our  Friends 
"against  any  improper  influence. 

"Now  we  will  just  add,  that  if  we  are  under  wrong  im- 
"  pressious,  we  hope  to  be  set  right ;  for  it  is  painful  to  us  to 
"  harbor  an  unfavorable  thought  respecting  Friends  for  whom 
"we  have  long  entertained  so  high  a  regard  as  we  have  for 
"  those  whom  we  are  now  addressing. 

"  We  expected  you  would  take  steps  to  inquire  into  the  par- 
ticulars of  our  difficult}',  see  where  the  wrong  was,  and  en- 
"deavor  to  remove  it.  But  if  this  is  not  your  intention,  then 
"  we  have  been  mistaken  in  the  object  of  your  visit.  We  have; 
"spoken  plainly,  but  not  in  an  unfriendly  feeling,  and  hope 
"you  will  attribute  it  to  no  other  motive  than  a  desire  that 
"the  right  may  prosper. 

"With  the  salutation  of  our  love,  we  remain  your  sincere 
"Friends." 

It  would  seem  by  the  above  firm  but  temperate  and 
respectful  letter,  that  the  London  Address  had  hitherto 
been  withheld  from  the  Antislavery  Friends  by  the  dele- 
gation. They  informed  those  who  presented  the  letter 
to  them,  that  they  had  no  advice  to  give  them  as  to  how 
they  should  return  to  those  by  whom  they  had  been  dis- 
owned, but  simply  "  to  return  to  the  meetings  for  wor- 
ship," which  they  well  knew  would  result  in  their  entire 
disorganization.  George  Stacey  said  that  "he  could 
conceive  of  no  possible  circumstances  in  which  he  could 
be  placed,  that  would  justify  him  in  suffering  himself  to 
be  alienated  from  the  body  of  Society apparently  for- 


1845.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


39 


getting  that  he  belonged  to  a  community  which  had 
never  assumed  to  itself  the  attribute  of  infallibility  (any 
longer  than  it  might  be  led  and  qualified  by  the  infal- 
lible Spirit  of  the  Lord  Jesus),  and  to  a  branch  of  it 
which  had  of  late  years  manifested  sad  evidences  of 
going  astray. 

The  delegation  were  distinctly  offered  an  interview 
within  a  few  days,  at  Newport,  with  a  larger  number  of 
the  objects  of  their  solicitude  than  they  would  be  likely 
to  see  at  any  other  place ;  but  they  preferred  to  visit  the 
remote  sections  first,  and  at  once  proceeded  into  Iowa. 
Arriving  at  Salem,  they  invited  the  Antislavery  Friends 
to  meet  them  in  conference;  when  the  London  Address 
was  read  to  them,  and  they  were  exhorted  to  discontinue 
their  meetings  for  worship,  and  again  attend  those  of 
"the  body."  The  delegation  were  informed  that  "they 
did  not  know  what  they  were  asking  of  them,  in  requir- 
ing their  return,  without  a  removal  of  the  causes  of  the 
separation."  But  they  manifested  no  inclination  to  enter 
into  the  causes.  They  expressed  a  desire  to  visit  the 
families  residing  there,  which  was  acceded  to;  but  after 
the  delegation  retired,  those  who  had  met  them  con- 
tinued in  conference  on  the  subject,  and  drew  up  a  reply 
to  their  advice,  showing  them  in  respectful  but  earnest 
terms,  that  they  could  not  conscientiously  abandon  the 
position  which  they  had  taken  for  the  sake  of  being  able 
to  do  what  they  believed  to  be  their  duty,  and  return  to 
those  they  had  left,  except  on  the  distinct  understanding 
of  full  unity,  and  the  privilege  to  continue  their  usual 
exertions  for  the  abolition  of  slavery,  "as  Truth  might 
dictate,"  being  accountable  to  the  Society  only  for  viola- 
tions of  the  Discipline. 


40 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN     [CHAP.  VIII. 


At  the  suggestion  of  the  Antislavery  Friends,  another 
conference  was  had  with  the  delegation  a  few  days  after- 
wards; but  with  a  similar  result,  they  having  previously 
stated  to  those  who  made  the  request,  that  "  they  had  no 
liberty  to  enter  into  an  examination  or  discussion  of  the 
causes  of  difference,"  and  "should  not  feel  bound  to 
answer  questions  that  would  commit  them."  Their  con- 
duct throughout  manifested  to  those  whom  they  were 
visiting,  that  their  main  aim  and  desire  was  to  break  up 
the  organization. 

They  went  next  to  Nettle  Creek,  where  they  had  a 
similar  conference,  read  the  Address,  and  exhorted  the 
members  to  abandon  the  course  they  were  taking. 
"They  were  repeatedly  asked,"  says  an  account  of  this 
conference,*  "if  they  had  investigated  the  difficulty  be- 
tween us  and  those  we  had  left ;  to  which  they  gave  no 
answer.  But  when  they  were  told  how  one-sided  they 
were,  in  giving  judgment  before  hearing  both  parties, 
they  said  they  knew  nothing  of  the  cause  of  separation, 
and  they  had  no  privilege  from  their  Yearly  Meeting  to 
investigate  the  difference  between  us ;  and  they  did  not 
come  here  to  discuss  the  matter,  but  were  messengers  to 
expostulate  with  us." 

Various  other  places  were  visited  by  the  delegation  in 
the  same  way;  and  "to  read  the  Address,  and  urge  sub- 
mission to  its  advice,  seemed  to  be  the  sole  business." 
At  length,  in  returning  after  most  of  their  labors  were 
accomplished,  they  reached  Newport  in  Indiana  early  in 
the  year  1846.  At  the  conclusion  of  the  conference 
there,  they  were  asked  if  they  would  carry  back  to  their 
Yearly  Meeting  a  response  to  its  Address  which  they 


*  W.  Edgerton's  History  of  the  Separation,  p.  345. 


1846.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


41 


had  brought  over.  They  replied  that  "they  could  see 
no  propriety  in  sending  such  a  communication,"  and  de- 
clined to  take  it.  A  document  of  that  nature  was,  how- 
ever, prepared  by  the  Meeting  for  Sufferings  of  Anti- 
slavery  Friends,  addressed  to  London  Yearly  Meeting, 
and  to  the  Quarterly  and  Monthly  Meetings,  and  the 
members  individually,  which  was  sent  independently  of 
the  delegation.  This  response  contained  a  clear  expo- 
sure of  the  fallacies  put  forth  in  the  London  Address 
(fallacies  in  the  application  of  salutary  truths),  and 
among  other  pertinent  observations  contained  the  follow- 
ing remarks  :* 

"This  doctrine  of  implicit,  unconditional,  and  unqualified 
"  submission  to  the  powers  that  be,  in  religious  Society,  which 
"is  so  prevalent  among  Friends  both  in  this  country  and  in 
"  England,  is  a  most  conclusive  evidence  of  a  lamentable  de- 
fection from  first  principles  

"  We  regard  the  doctrine  of  individual  responsibility  and 
"accountability  to  be  one  of  vital  importance,  and  that  the 
"  difference  between  us  and  those  who  contend  for  implicit 
"obedience  to  the  mandates  of  the  church,  however  contrary 
"they  may  be  to  our  individual  convictions  of  duty,  is  essen- 
"  tial ;  and  we  can  have  no  fellowship  with  the  sentiment  re- 
"  peatedly  put  forth  by  members  of  the  London  deputation, 
"  that  no  conceivable  circumstances  can  justify  a  separation 
"from  the  body." 

"  Unless  we  shall  become  convinced  that  slavery  is  not  that 
"great  evil  which  we  have  long  believed  it  to  be,  we  should 
"  consider  ourselves  traitors  to  the  cause  of  Truth,  which  we 
"believe  ourselves  called  to  advocate,  were  we  to  accede  to 
"  the  advice  of  your  Yearly  Meeting  and  its  committee.  And 
"  should  the  labors  of  that  committee  prove  effectual  in  the 
"accomplishment  of  their  designs,  we  have  no  doubt  but  the 

*  Edgerton'a  History,  pages  349,  300,  and  352. 


42 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN     [CHAP.  VIII. 


"  damage  done  to  the  antislavery  cause  would  be  incalculable . 
"  But,  thanks  be  to  Him  who  controls  the  elements,  we  be- 
"  lieve  their  course  has  had  a  powerful  tendency  to  strengthen 
"  the  minds  of  Antislavery  Friends  generally,  in  the  confidence 
"of  the  rectitude  of  our  position. 

"And  now,  in  coming  to  a  conclusion,  permit  us  to  state 
"that,  with  our  present  convictions  of  duty,  we  cannot  look 
"  towards  a  reunion  with  those  whom  we  have  left,  upon  any 
"  other  terms  than  a  total  recantation  of  all  their  proscriptive 
"  measures,  and  an  unconditional  restoration  to  all  the  rights 
"and  privileges  which  we  formerly  enjoyed  in  the  Society, 
"with  unrestrained  liberty  to  pursue  our  antislavery  labors 
"according  to  the  dictates  of  our  own  consciences  ;  being  re- 
"  sponsible  to  the  church  only  for  violations  of  the  Discipline. 
"We  shall  rejoice  to  hail  such  a  proposition,  made  in  good 
"faith,  and  upon  a  thorough  conviction  of  its  propriety,  by 
"  our  Friends  of  Indiana  Yearly  Meeting." 

The  delegation  returned  through  Washington  and 
Philadelphia,  attended  Philadelphia  Yearly  Meeting, 
and  then  embarked  for  England.  In  their  Report  to  the 
ensuing  Yearly  Meeting  in  Loudon,  they  mention 
having  "  visited  all  the  companies  of  this  description, 
thirty-three  in  number,  except  one  remotely  situated  " — 
that  their  plan  had  been  to  call  them  together  in  their 
neighborhoods,  to  read  to  them  the  Address,  and  exhort 
them  affectionately  to  give  up  their  separate  meetings, 
giving  them  "such  explanation  as  seemed  called  for  by 
any  remarks  that  were  made  by  those  who  were  thus 
convened  " — that  "  on  all  occasions  a  willingness  to  meet 
them  was  manifested  " — and  that  they  had  felt  much 
love  and  sympathy  for  them  in  the  circumstances  in 
which  they  found  them.  But  their  Report  is  entirely 
silent  as  to  the  great  dissatisfaction  with  their  course  of 
proceeding,  so  repeatedly  expressed  to  the  delegation  by 


1846.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTUUV. 


43 


the  Antislavery  Friends,  nor  does  it  hint  at  any  doubt 
on  their  part  that  Indiana  Yearly  Meeting  had  acted 
throughout  with  entire  correctness.  If,  in  their  various 
meetings  with  the  members  of  that  Yearly  Meeting,  they 
had  in  reality  given  them  any  counsel  to  alter  their 
course  toward  their  seceded  brethren,  or  had  even  al- 
lowed themselves  to  suspect  that  all  had  not  been  done 
in  the  best  way,  they  kept  it  most  profoundly  secret, 
and  allowed  all  the  impression  of  blame  to  rest  upon 
those  who  charged  the  Yearly  Meeting  with  having 
compelled  them  to  the  secession.  There  is  nothing  in 
the  published  "Life  of  William  Forster,"  in  giving  an 
account  of  their  labors  in  this  concern,  which  appears  at 
all  to  conflict  with  the  recital  I  have  here  given  of  their 
mode  of  procedure.  The  editor  of  that  work,  in  closing 
his  statement  of  it,  makes  the  following  remark  respect- 
ing it  and  its  results.  There  may  be,  however,  two  dif- 
ferent sentiments  on  that  subject.  He  says,  "  It  may  be 
"truly  said  that  few  offices  of  love  have  ever  been  un- 
dertaken by  one  portion  of  a  Christian  community  on 
"  behalf  of  another,  which  have  been  more  signally  at- 
"  tended  with  the  divine  blessing,  or  which  furnish  a 
"  more  beautiful  illustration  of  the  right  mode  of  bearing 
"one  another's  burdens,  and  so  fulfilling  the  law  of 
"  Christ."* 

In  reviewing  the  action  of  this  delegation,  as  deline- 
ated by  the  Antislavery  Friends  who  were  the  objects  of 
it,  it  seems  strange  that  men  so  eminent  as  leaders  of  the 
people  in  London  Yearly  Meeting,  men  so  long  and  in- 
timately versed  in  the  affairs  of  the  whole  Society,  men 

*  Sixbohiu's  "  Life  of  W.  Forstor,"  p.  20G. 


44 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN     [CHAP.  VIII. 


of  so  extensive  a  knowledge  of  the  world,  and  men  so 
ardent  in  advocacy  of  African  liberty,  should  have  been 
satisfied  to  spend  their  time  and  energies  in  this  busi- 
ness, without  managing  it  better.  They  appear  to  have 
persuaded  themselves  that  the  subjects  of  their  visit  were 
either  docile  children,  who  could  be  persuaded  by  affec- 
tionate solicitude,  and  appeals  in  behalf  of  unity  at  any 
price,  into  any  course,  or  men  and  women  who  did  not 
know  what  they  had  been  about,  and  what  was  the 
value  of  the  liberty  to  act  according  to  their  conscience 
when  such  action  did  not  contravene  the  discipline  and 
testimonies  of  the  Society  of  which  they  were  or  had 
been  members,  and  to  whose  principles  they  still  declared 
their  warm  adhesion.  The  marvel,  however,  is  less,  when 
we  remember  that  three  of  them  had  been  prominent 
members  of  the  London  Yearly  Meeting's  committee  of 
1835  on  the  "Beacon"  controversy,  and  had  (no  doubt 
against  their  better  judgment  at  times)  been  induced  by 
those  who  actually  controlled  that  committee,  to  sanc- 
tion, tacitly  at  least,  the  various  temporizing  blunders 
which  it  committed  in  the  treatment  of  that  schism.* 
In  neither  case  did  they  dare  to  go  down  to  the  actual 
root  of  the  matter,  being  afraid  of  the  consequences 
which  might  ensue.  Their  labors  in  Indiana  do  not  ap- 
pear to  have  had  much  convincing  efficacy,  nor  much 
immediate  or  manifest  influence  in  drawing  back  many 
to  "  the  body  •"  though  it  is  probable  that  from  that  time 
a  gradual  weakening  of  the  ranks  of  the  Antislavery 
Friends  may  have  to  be  dated. 

Their  organization  as  a  Yearly  Meeting  continued  for 


*  See  Volume  I,  Chapter  VI. 


1846.]  THE  NINETEENTH  CENTUKY. 


45 


fourteen  years,  and  their  manuscript  Records  and  many 
printed  documents,  during  that  time,  give  evidence  of 
much  industry,  and  indicate  an  earnest  concern,  not  only 
on  the  subject  of  slavery  and  the  help  of  the  people  of 
color,  but  for  the  religious  welfare  and  advancement  of 
their  own  members.  They  appear  to  have  been  indefat- 
igable in  the  defence  of  their  position,  and  of  the  cause 
which  they  had  so  warmly  at  heart,  issuing  many  succes- 
sive documents  addressed  to  Friends  or  other  Christian 
professors,  to  Congress  and  Legislatures,  some  of  them 
of  marked  cogency. 

The  manuscript  Records  of  their  Yearly  Meeting  are 
voluminous,  embracing  the  usual  business  of  Yearly 
Meetings,  answers  to  the  queries,  etc.,  mainly  in  accord- 
ance with  the  discipline  of  Indiana  Yearly  Meeting, 
besides  many  of  the  above  documents  recorded  in  full, 
and  eight  Memorials  of  deceased  members,  including 
three  ministers,  viz.,  Abel  Roberts,  Daniel  Puckett,  and 
Charles  Osborn. 

But  various  circumstances  wrought  their  disintegra- 
tion and  final  scattering.  In  addition  to  the  feature 
already  alluded  to,  that  their  standard  as  a  separate  organ- 
ization was  necessarily  a  temporary  one ;  and  in  addition 
to  the  influence,  whatever  it  was,  of  the  London  dele- 
gation of  1845;  they  were  constantly  assailed  by  the 
discouraging  consciousness  that  they  were  a  small  body 
compared  with  the  old  Yearly  Meeting  of  Indiana,  with 
no  prospect  of  increase  of  numbers  ;  for  the  proscriptive 
decrees  of  the  Yearly  Meeting  had  been  practically  set 
aside  by  the  subordinate  meetings;  and,  while  the  Yearly 
Meeting  itself  complacently  assumed  the  attitude — "  I 
have  done  no  evil " — yet  some  of  its  leading  characters 


46 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN     [CHAP.  VIII. 


would  often  insinuate  that  "  if  it  were  to  do  over  again, 
the  meeting  would  not  act  as  it  did others  would  say 
to  them,  "Do  come  back  and  help  us,  for  we  need  just 
such  as  you  are  to  aid  us  j"  and  promises  were  made  by 
others,  that  "  if  they  would  only  come  back,  they  might 
have  all  the  privilege  they  desired,  to  labor  in  the  anti- 
slavery  cause,"  and  that  "  the  Yearly  Meeting  was  now 
as  true  to  that  cause  as  they  were  themselves."  All  this, 
and  much  more  like  it,  had  considerable  effect,  especially 
as  some  of  their  older  and  influential  members  had  been 
taken  away  by  death,  and  many  of  their  younger  ones 
had  not  been  personally  subjected  to  the  restrictive  meas- 
ures, and  therefore  did  not  feel  the  necessity  of  standing 
against  edicts  whose  practical  force  had  passed  away, 
while  they  probably  longed  to  be  once  more  associated 
with  the  larger  number.  Thus  there  was  for  some  years 
a  gradual  diminution  of  numbers  and  strength  as  an 
organized  body,  and  when  once  the  tide  was  seen  to  set 
that  way,  it  was  natural  that  it  should  increase  in  the 
power  of  its  depressing  flow.  Many  left  their  ranks, 
and,  without  making  any  acknowledgment  of  error, 
slipped  back  quietly  into  those  of  "the  body;"  while 
some  others  lost  their  way  on  one  dark  mountain  or 
another,  and  but  a  few  were  left  at  their  Yearly  Meeting 
in  1857,  scarcely  sufficient  to  keep  up  one  Monthly  or  one 
Quarterly  Meeting.  So  that  finding  it  then  out  of  their 
power  to  continue  to  hold  their  Society  together  as  became 
their  profession  and  in  accordance  with  the  Discipline, 
they  took  such  measures  as  were  needful  to  secure  their 
corporate  property  under  direction  of  trustees,  finished 
up  all  their  business,  commended  their  remaining  mem- 


1857.]  THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


47 


bers  to  wait  upon  the  Lord  for  strength  and  preservation, 
and  came  to  "a  solemn  conclusion." 

The  minutes  of  this  their  last  Yearly  Meeting  are 
really  touching  in  their  tenor,  as  compared  with  the 
buoyancy  of  their  earlier  records.  Yet  nothing  ap- 
pears like  an  acknowledgment  of  a  doubt  of  the  recti- 
tude of  their  proceedings.  Before  they  disbanded,  they 
issued  a  final  document,  entitled,  "Some  Observations 
and  Explanations,  touching  the  situation  of  Antislavery 
Friends  as  an  organization,  and  what  wrought  its  over- 
throw."  We  may  extract  the  two  following  paragraphs  : 

"We  declared,  when  taking  our  independent  position,  that 
"  we  did  not  separate  from  the  principles  of  the  Society  of 
"Friends,  nor  from  its  testimonies  and  discipline  ;  but  from 
"  that  body  of  members  who  had  departed  from  our  testimony 
"against  slavery,  and  from  a  due  respect  for  the  discipline  ; 
"wishing  it  distinctly  understood  that  we  adopted  no  new 
"doctrine,  nor  any  new  system  of  church  government;  that 
"  we  claimed  to  be,  in  the  strictest  sense  of  the  word,  a  .Society 
"  of  Friends,  with  no  other  nominal  distinction  in  the  title  we 
"adopted  than  that  which  was  necessary  to  distinguish  us 
"from  those  from  whom  we  separated,  and  to  express  our 
"adherence  to  our  well-known  testimony  against  slavery."* 

"  And  now,  what  shall  we  say  ?  Our  object  in  reorganizing 
"  the  Society  has,  to  a  considerable  degree,  been  frustrated. 
"It  is  true  that  our  sufferings  in  the  cause,  and  the  secession 
"that  ensued,  purchased  liberty  for  the  antislavery  portion  of 
"Friends  that  remained  with  '  the  body,'  to  labor  in  the  cause 
"of  the  slave,  and  stemmed  the  torrent  of  opposition  to  anti- 
"  slavery  action  of  Friends  in  other  Yearly  Meetings,  and  in 
"this  way  much  good  was  effected  ;  yet  it  was  forced;  the 
"  liberty  was  extorted,  and  not  granted  from  any  congeniality 
"of  feeling  in  its  favor. "t 

*  Manuscript  Records  of  the  Yearly  Meeting  of  Antislavery  Friends,  p.  359. 
t  Id.,  p.  371. 


48 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN     [CHAP.  VIII. 


Thus  was  brought  to  a  close  a  secession,  the  inception 
of  which  appears  not  to  have  had  fully  adequate  ground 
for  so  momentous  a  step,  but  for  which  the  lapsing  con- 
dition of  Indiana  Yearly  Meeting,  with  its  arbitrary  and 
unauthorized  encroachments  on  the  rights  of  conscience 
and  individual  liberty,  was  mainly  accountable. 


1840.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


49 


CHAPTER  IX. 

THE  PERSECUTION  OF  JOHN  WILBUR  AND  OTHERS, 
AND  THE  SEPARATION  EFFECTED  BY  THE  GUR- 
NEY  PARTY  IN  NEW  ENGLAND. 

We  must  bow  resume  the  sad  narrative  of  the  trou- 
bles which  resulted  from  the  spread  of  the  modernizing 
principles  in  the  United  States — principles  which  never 
could  have  obtained  so  sweeping  an  influence  in  the 
Society,  had  it  not  been  for  the  unwatchfulucss,  and 
consequent  unfaithfulness  of  many  of  the  leading  men, 
who  suffered  themselves  to  be  dazzled  and  led  astray  by 
plausible  outward  appearances  and  worldly  motives. 

The  wide  and  rapid  flow  of  sentiment  which  had  been 
developed,  as  we  have  seen,  in  favor  of  Joseph  John 
Gurney,  soon  encouraged  those  leaders  in  New  Eng- 
land who  had  generally  consorted  with  him  since  his 
arrival,  to  endeavor  to  suppress  all  attempts  to  oppose 
his  doctrines,  and  especially  to  stop  the  influence  of  one 
whom  they  regarded  as  the  main  obstacle  to  their  suc- 
cess herein.  And  now  came  on  an  astonishing  instance 
of  ecclesiastical  oppression  by  the  mere  force  of  arbitrary 
power,  previously  unknown  in  the  annals  of  the  Society, 
and  worthy  only  of  the  dark  precincts  of  papal  tyranny. 
This  was  the  protracted  persecution  and  irregular  dis- 
ownment  of  an  aged,  worthy,  and  hitherto  highly  es- 
teemed minister,  for  no  other  cause  than  that  he  had 

VOL    II.  —  5 


50 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN      [CHAP.  IX. 


firmly  stood  his  ground,  on  the  basis  of  ancient  Quaker- 
ism, warning  his  fellow-members  of  the  subversive  ten- 
dency of  the  new  doctrines ;  this  arbitrary  procedure 
involving  also  the  precipitate,  groundless,  and  unauthor- 
ized dissolution  of  the  Monthly  Meeting  of  which  he 
was  a  member,  and  disownment  of  various  other  indi- 
viduals, in  order  to  compass  their  end  ;  violating  their 
own  discipline  in  several  important  particulars,  for  the 
accomplishment  of  these  outrages  on  the  rights  and  pre- 
cious privileges  of  the  members ;  and  all  for  the  pur- 
pose of  sustaining  the  claims  of  J.  J.  Gurney  and  the 
prevalency  of  his  views. 

From  the  time  of  the  decease  of  Moses  Brown,  of 
Providence,  Rhode  Island,  who  firmly  opposed  and 
checked  these  tendencies,  certain  individuals  of  consid- 
erable influence  in  New  England  Yearly  Meeting, 
chiefly  in  and  about  Providence,  had  been  aiming  at 
John  Wilbur,  of  Hopkinton,  on  account  of  his  known 
hostility  first  to  Beaconism,  and  afterwards  to  the  same 
spirit  as  it  had  since  more  insidiously  manifested  itself ; 
and  in  the  spring  of  1840,  while  J.  J.  Gurney  was  yet  on 
this  side  of  the  ocean,  these  leaders  of  the  party  had  the 
machinery  ready  for  stopping  his  open  testimony  or  sup- 
pressing him  altogether.  They  had  a  standing  commit- 
tee of  the  Yearly  Meeting,  composed  principally  of  these 
very  party  leaders  and  their  pliant  instruments,  and  pos- 
sessing by  their  appointment  the  questionable,  vague, 
and  extensive  authority,  "  to  extend  a  general  care  on 
behalf  of  the  Yearly  Meeting  for  the  maintenance  of 
our  Christian  principles  and  testimonies,  the  preserva- 
tion of  love  and  unity,  and  to  assist  and  advise  such 
meetings  and  members  as  circumstances  may  require 


1840.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


51 


and  way  open  for,"  throughout  the  whole  Yearly  Meet- 
ing. Here  one  might  suppose  was  authority  ample  and 
vague  enough  to  enable  them  to  take  hold  of  anything 
whatever  that  they  might  desire,  to  the  utter  prostra- 
tion of  all  individual  rights.  Nevertheless  it  seems  to 
have  been  early  perceived,  that  they  had  no  express  au- 
thority to  interfere  with  meetings  of  ministers  and  elders, 
and  that  this  might  present  a  difficulty.  Accordingly, 
a  committee  was  appointed  likewise  in  Rhode  Island 
Quarterly  Meeting  of  Ministers  and  Elders,  containing 
several  of  the  same  individuals,  ostensibly  on  the  ground 
that  two  of  the  Select  Meetings  within  its  limits  had  sent 
up  exceptions  to  the  query  respecting  love  and  unity. 
Neither,  however,  of  these  two  Select  Meetings  was  the 
one  to  which  John  Wilbur  belonged,  which  was  South 
Kingston.  But  after  getting  the  committee,  it  was  easy 
to  turn  it  in  that  direction,  however  unwarranted  by  the 
ostensible  ground  of  its  appointment;  and  in  their  haste 
to  accomplish  their  purpose,  John  Wilbur  was  cited  to 
a]>] tear  before  it  the  very  next  morning.  Thus  began 
a  series  of  arbitrary  and  despotic  transactions,  disgrace- 
ful to  the  character  of  a  Christian  society.  It  is  a  long 
and  forlorn  story,  and  we  shall  be  obliged  to  confine 
ourselves  to  the  prominent  and  essential  features. 

The  object  at  first  seemed  to  be,  to  entrap  him  unwa- 
rily by  questions  into  some  admission  which  they  might 
use  to  his  disadvantage ;  but  this  being  seen  and  avoided, 
they  then  brought  against  him  sundry  complaints,  such 
as  that  he  had  made  a  visit  to  Philadelphia,  when  lie 
must  have  known  that  they  did  not  wish  him  to  go 
thither,  although  he  had  gone  witli  a  minute  of  unity 
from   his   Monthly  Meeting,  to   attend  Philadelphia 


52 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN      [CHAP.  IX. 


Yearly  Meeting ;  that  he  kept  company  with  young 
men  (who  did  not  approve  of  the  new  views  and  meas- 
ures) such  as  T.  B.  Gould,  George  F.  Read,  etc. ;  that 
he  had  written  and  spoken  against  J.  J.  Gurney,  and 
spread  long  lists  of  Extracts  from  his  doctrines.  He  de- 
nied having  spoken  against  J.  J.  Gurney  otherwise  than 
in  regard  to  his  unsound  doctrines,  and  proposed  to  prove 
the  correctness  of  this  course  by  reading  to  them  the 
Extracts  which  they  charged  him  with  spreading.  But 
they  refused  to  listen  to  them,  and  gave  him  scarcely 
any  time  to  vindicate  himself,  heaping  abundance  of 
censure  upon  him,  demanding  immediate  concession,  and 
advising  him  to  "  stay  at  home  and  be  quiet." 

Being  thus  debarred  from  offering  anything  by  way 
of  showing  the  committee  that  he  had  done  nothing;  but 
what  it  was  his  right,  and  indeed,  by  the  Discipline  of 
that  Yearly  Meeting,  his  express  duty  to  do;  he  soon 
after  Avrote  a  long  letter  to  the  member  first  named  on 
the  committee,  showing  the  utter  inconsistency  of  their 
action,  and  the  groundless  and  frivolous  nature  of  their 
charges  against  him,  and  adverting  to  some  of  the  errors 
of  J.  J.  Gurney's  sentiments  against  which  he  had  been 
constrained  to  bear  testimony.  This  letter*  was  eagerly 
seized  upon  by  the  committee,  who  endeavored  to  make 
out  from  it  fresh  accusations  against  him.  They  had 
many  interviews  with  him,  requiring  him  to  attend 
upon  them  at  various  places  and  times  for  a  space  of 
about  two  years ;  continually  changing  and  adding  to 
their  complaints  against  him,  but  always  declining  to 
give  him  their  charges  plainly  and  explicitly  in  writing, 


*  For  tlu;  whole  letter,  see  his  Journal  and  Correspondence,  p.  279. 


1841.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


53 


and  utterly  refusing  to  allow  him  to  prove  the  correct- 
ness of  his  conduct  by  adducing  evidence  of  the  errone- 
ous nature  of  J.  J.  Gurney's  published  doctrines.  This 
they  would  by  no  means  listen  to,  although  on  that  cir- 
cumstance depended  the  question  whether  they  had  any 
cause  or  right  whatever  to  call  him  to  account.  After 
treating  with  him  thus  for  about  twelve  months,  the  Se- 
lect Quarterly  Meeting's  committee  enlisted  in  the  service 
the  committee  of  the  Yearly  Meeting,  and  John  Wilbur 
was  called  upon  to  meet  nine  of  the  former  committee 
and  six  of  the  latter.  The  mode  of  treatment  of  the 
case  by  both  committees  was  sorrowfully  characterized 
by  abundance  of  unjust  reproaches  cast  upon  him,  and 
by  quibbling,  shuffling,  and  prevarication,  and  even  di- 
rect falsehood,  to  a  disgraceful  extent;  bearing  down 
upon  him  also  by  numbers  and  assumed  authority,  and 
never  allowing  him  a  fair  opportunity  to  show  his  entire 
innocency.  *  They  alleged  that  he  was  guilty  of  detrac- 
tion, but  would  never  listen  to  his  proofs  of  the  truth  of 
what  he  had  testified,  and  of  its  importance  to  the  safety 
of  the  Society  ;  nor  yet  would  they  at  all  consent  to  give 
him  a  written  statement  of  their  objections  against  his 
conduct,  though  he  repeatedly  urged  it  upon  them,  in 
order  to  have  their  floating  and  vacillating  accusations 
brought  to  a  clear  and  distinct  charge,  which  they  would 
not  be  able  afterwards  to  change,  and  which  it  would  be 
easy  for  him  to  meet. 

In  the  spring  of  1841  the  Select  Quarterly  Meeting's 
committee  professed  to  resign  their  care  of  the  case  to 
the  committee  of  the  Yearly  Meeting,  of  which,  how- 


*  Journal  ami  Correspondence  of  John  Wilbur,  pp.  277  to  ;ius. 


54 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIEXDS  IN      [CHAP.  IX. 


ever,  all  but  two  of  them  were  members ;  so  that  with 
these  two  exceptions  all  the  members  continued  (though 
nominally  on  another  committee)  to  exercise  their  author- 
ity in  the  case,  and  by  acting  upon  it  in  the  last  named 
committee  they  could  bring  the  Discipline  to  bear  on  it 
more  readily  than  through  the  committee  of  the  Meet- 
ing of  Ministers  and  Elders  merely. 

Accordingly,  in  the  sixth  month,  1841,  John  Wilbur 
was  called  upon  to  meet  about  thirty  members*  of  this 
committee,  who  resorted,  in  turn,  to  persuasion,  exhor- 
tation, and  denunciation,  in  order  to  obtain  concessions 
from  him.  Finding,  however,  that,  numerous  as  they 
were,  they  gained  nothing,  the  next  opportunity  was 
concluded  to  be  with  five  or  six  of  their  number,  who 
importuned  him  earnestly  to  make  even  this  small  con- 
cession, "  If  I  have  done  wrong,  I  am  sorry  for  it ;" 
knowing  well  that  if  thev  could  brinsr  him  to  such  an 
avowal,  they  could  spread  the  report  that  he  had  re- 
canted, and  could  still  hold  him  subject  to  their  author- 
ity. But  he  calmly  told  them  that  this  was  by  no 
means  a  proper  way  for  satisfaction  to  be  made.  He 
afterwards  again  met  the  committee  at  large,  who  pro- 
fessed to  have  other  complaints  against  him,  of  which 
they  had  not  yet  told  him !  He  demanded  to  know  the 
whole  distinctly ;  to  which  he  was  told  "they  had  many 
others,"  evidently  in  the  hope  of  at  length  intimidating 
him  ;  but  they  would  not  specify  them,  or  verify  their 
declaration,  and  continued  to  urge  concession,  which  he 
plainly  informed  them  he  could  not  conscientiously 
make.    There  were  some  men  on  that  committee,  from 


*  The  "  Narrative  of  Facts  and  Circumstances,"  published  by  the  Gurney 
Yearly  Meeting,  says  twenty-seven. 


1842.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


55 


whom  such  conduct  as  what  we  have  now  witnessed 
might  not  be  very  surprising,  if  needful  to  accomplish  a 
favorite  object;  but  there  were  others  who  must  have 
unconsciously  and  unwarily  suffered  their  sense  of  jus- 
tice and  right  to  be  grievously  blinded  by  their  con- 
fidence in  the  leaders,  and  who,  having  thus  given  up 
their  independence  of  judgment,  saw  no  other  way  than 
to  follow  on  in  the  track  marked  out  for  them. 

In  the  spring  of  1842,  fifteen  members  of  the  com- 
mittee attended  South  Kingston  Monthly  Meeting,  and 
produced  to  it  a  long  written  complaint  against  John 
Wilbur,  signed  by  them  all;  thus  overstepping  the  con- 
stant usage  and  good  order  of  the  Society,  that  cases  of 
offence  must  first  be  brought  to  the  Preparative  Meeting 
(where  there  is  one)  by  the  overseers,  after  proper  con- 
sideration and  endeavors  for  reclaiming  and  convincing 
the  offender,  before  they  are  introduced  to  the  notice  of 
the  Monthly  Meeting.  This  complaint  charged  John 
Wilbur  with  departing  from  the  order  and  discipline  of 
our  religious  Society  in  circulating  an  anonymous  pam- 
phlet, purporting  to  contain  an  account  of  the  proceed- 
ings of  London  Yearly  Meeting  of  Ministers  and  Elder.-, 
when  a  Friend  was  liberated  to  visit  this  country,  whose 
certificate  had  been  received  and  united  with  by  New 
England  Yearly  Meeting;  that  he  had  also  circulated 
divers  letters,  intended  to  show  that  this  Friend  was  not 
in  unity  with  his  Friends  at  home,  and  designed  to  close 
his  way  here;  that  he  had  indulged  in  a  spirit  of  de- 
traction, misrepresenting  the  religious  character  of  divers 
Friends  in  their  own  and  other  Yearly  Meetings;  that 
he  had  made  divers  assertions  tending  to  induce  dissatis- 
faction among  Friends,  and  with  the  proceedings  of  the 


56 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN      [CHAP.  IX. 


Yearly  Meeting,  and  calculated  to  produce  division 
therein,  to  disturb  the  unity  of  different  Yearly  Meet- 
ings, and  alienate  the  feelings  of  the  members;  that  he 
had  written  a  letter  to  one  of  the  committee,  in  which 
he  made  unjust  insinuations,  and  preferred  charges 
against  them,  which  they  deny  in  point  of  fact ;  and 
concluded  by  saying  that  the  Select  Quarterly  Meet- 
ing's committee,  having  labored  with  him  till  the  fifth 
month,  1841,  the  Yearly  Meeting's  committee  had  then, 
at  their  request,  extended  care  in  the  case,  and  endeav- 
ored to  convince  him  of  his  errors,  in  repeated  oppor- 
tunities for  several  months,  without  any  change  in  his 
mind  ;  and,  therefore,  they  now  belie\ned  it  their  duty  to 
recommend  his  case  to  the  immediate  notice  and  care  of 
South  Kingston  Monthly  Meeting.  The  above  is  briefly 
the  substance  of  this  complaint.  Why  it  was  signed  by 
fifteen,  and  not  by  all  the  members  of  the  committee, 
does  not  appear.  The  objection  was  urged  in  the  meet- 
ing, that  it  was  introduced  in  a  manner  inconsistent  with 
the  uniform  practice  of  the  Society;  but  notwithstand- 
ing its  irregularity,  the  committee  urged  its  being  at- 
tended to  at  that  time,  saying  that  the  authority  with 
which  they  were  clothed  by  the  Yearly  Meeting  obviated 
the  necessity  of  such  preliminary  proceedings.  The 
members  of  the  Monthly  Meeting,  seeing  that  this  was 
a  case  not  only  very  trying  to  their  feelings,  but  of  great 
general  importance,  and  that  owing  to  several  concur- 
ring circumstances  a  smaller  number  of  Friends  were 
present  than  usual,  proposed  a  delay  of  one  month. 
But  the  committee  insisted  on  their  immediately  pro- 
ceeding to  appoint  a  committee  to  attend  to  the  case, 
saying  that  if  the  meeting  desired  it,  an  addition  could 


1842.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


57 


he  made  to  that  committee  at  a  future  time.  They  even 
threatened  to  complain  to  the  Quarterly  Meeting  against 
them,  if  the  meeting  did  not  comply  with  their  desire. 
The  clerk  at  length  concluded,  in  accordance  with  their 
advice,  to  take  the  names  of  a  committee,  and  four 
Friends  were  appointed. 

At  the  next  Monthly  Meeting,  the  year  of  the  clerk's 
appointment  to  service  having  expired,  a  new  clerk  was 
appointed  ;  and  one  of  the  committee  appointed  on  John 
Wilbur's  case,  proposing  an  addition  to  that  committee, 
five  other  Friends  were  added  to  it,  as  had  been  sug- 
gested by  the  Yearly  Meeting's  committee  the  month 
before. 

But  at  the  Monthly  Meeting  in  the  sixth  month, 
several  of  the  Yearly  Meeting's  committee  attended, 
and  objecting  to  the  appointment  made  the  month  be- 
fore, of  a  new  clerk,  proposed  that  he  should  resign  his 
post  to  the  former  one,  alleging  that  this  would  tend  to 
restore  unity  and  harmony  in  the  Monthly  Meeting  ! 
This,  however,  was  not  acceded  to  by  the  meeting.  The 
former  clerk,  who  was  under  the  influence  of  the  Yearly 
Meeting's  committee,  on  being  applied  to  for  the  books 
and  papers  of  the  Monthly  Meeting,  declined  to  deliver 
them  to  the  new  clerk,  and  afterwards  had  them  con- 
veyed beyond  the  limits  of  the  Monthly  Meeting ;  and 
the  Yearly  Meeting's  committee  acknowledged  that  they 
had  advised  him  to  that  course,  from  an  apprehension 
that  the  Monthly  Meeting  contemplated  a  separation! 
This,  of  course,  was  disclaimed  on  the  part  of  the 
meeting,  and  the  committee  adduced  no  evidence  to 
sustain  their  unwarrantable  surmise. 

"  In  the  seventh  month,  the  committee  in  the  case  of 
vol.  ir  — 0 


58 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN      [CHAP.  IX. 


John  Wilbur  met  for  the  investigation  of  that  case.  Six 
cf  the  Yearly  Meeting's  committee  (also)  attended. 
Before  the  examination  of  the  case  was  commenced,  J. 
Wilbur  desired  to  have  one  or  two  of  his  friends  to  sit 
with  him  and  assist  him;  and  after  some  discussion,  in 
which  the  Yearly  Meeting's  committee  made  objection 
to  his  having  this  privilege,  the  respective  parties  with- 
drew, submitting  the  matter  to  the  Monthly  Meeting's 
committee,  who  unanimously  decided  to  allow  J.  Wil- 
bur the  assistance  of  two  of  his  friends.  Upon  their 
return  the  Yearly  Meeting's  committee  still  objected, 
and  again  retired  a  short  time  for  consultation  among 
themselves.  On  again  coming  in,  they  took  decided 
ground  that  the  decision  of  the  Monthly  Meeting's 
committee  must  be  reversed,  or  they  should  not  proceed 
with  the  opening  of  the  case,  but  should  leave.  The 
Monthly  Meeting's  committee,  on  being  again  appealed 
to,  declined  to  take  from  J.  Wilbur  the  privilege  they 
had  granted,  unless  he  should  consent  thereto.  John 
Wilbur  subsequently  did  consent  to  proceed  without  the 
help  of  his  friends,  as,  from  the  determination  of  the 
Yearly  Meeting's  committee,  no  other  way  appeared  to 
go  forward  with  the  case  with  said  committee  present, 
which  was  to  him  desirable.  During  the  discussion  of 
this  question  of  allowing  him  assistance,  which  occupied 
the  whole  of  the  first  day,  the  Yearly  Meeting's  com- 
mittee claimed  that  it  was  their  province,  after  repre- 
senting the  case  on  their  part,  to  join  the  Monthly 
Meeting's  committee  in  judging  the  same,  a  position 
which  the  Monthly  Meeting's  committee  were  not  ready 
to  allow.  The  Yearly  Meeting's  committee  also,  dur- 
ing the  same  discussion,  denied  that  they  were  com- 


1842.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


59 


plainants  in  this  case ;  and  when,  the  next  morning, 
they  were  asked  by  J.  Wilbur  whether  they  still  per- 
sisted in  this  denial,  notwithstanding  their  names  were 
attached  to  the  complaint,  they  made  no  reply!"* 

After  the  Yearly  Meeting's  committee  had  gone 
through  with  the  evidence  in  support  of  their  complaint, 
J.  Wilbur,  in  his  own  defence,  proposed  to  adduce  cer- 
tain fundamental  doctrines  of  the  Society,  and  to  show 
the  inconsistency  of  J.  J.  Gurney's  doctrines  therewith, 
"  because  it  was  on  account  of  his  objection  to  the  latter 
that  he  was  complained  of."  But  this  was  objected  to 
by  the  Yearly  Meeting's  committee,  they  alleging  that 
the  Monthly  Meeting's  committee  had  no  authority  to 
judge  of  doctrines — that  this  belonged  to  the  Yearly 
Meeting  and  the  Meeting;  for  Sufferings  alone — that  if 
they  went  into  doctrines,  they  would  assume  authority 
to  decide  that  the  great  body  of  the  Yearly  Meeting  was 
unsound,  seeing  its  great  unanimity  in  granting  to  J.  J. 
Gurney  a  returning  certificate.  J.  Wilbur  adduced  the 
provisions  of  the  Discipline  in  his  justification,  and  the 
Monthly  Meeting's  committee  decided  to  allow  him  to 
proceed  as  proposed,  "  introducing  such  evidence  and 
documents  on  these  subjects  as  shall  appear  essentially 
to  relate  to  the  same,"  inasmuch  as  "  the  merits  of  the 
case  essentially  depend  on  the  doctrines  called  in  ques- 
tion by  J.  Wilbur."  They  gave  also  additional  reasons 
for  this  conclusion,  in  that  the  Discipline  enjoins  upon 
"Quarterly  and  Monthly  Meetings,  and  all  faithful 
Friends"  to  be  watchful  against  unsound  doctrines 
among  the  members — that  Monthly  Meetings  are  often 


*  Journal  and  Correspondence  of  J.  Wilbur,  p.  310. 


GO 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN      [CHAP.  IX. 


required  to  judge  respecting  doctrines,  as  in  receiving 
or  disowning  members,  as  well  as  by  the  above  injunc- 
tion on  Quarterly  and  Monthly  Meetings  and  all  the 
faithful  members — and  that  subordinate  meetings  and 
members  cannot  be  thus  debarred  from  the  right  and 
duty  of  judging  for  themselves  in  so  vital  a  matter,  and 
bearing  their  testimony  against  manifest  unsoundness. 
These  arguments  were  unanswerable,  but  nevertheless 
the  Yearly  Meeting's  committee,  on  being  informed  of 
this  conclusion,  immediately  collected  together  their 
documents  and  withdrew ;  clearly  showing  that  justice 
was  not  what  they  aimed  at,  but  the  accomplishment  of 
a  predetermined  purpose.  The  matter  was  thus  left  in 
the  hands  of  the  Monthly  Meeting's  committee,  who 
continued  their  sittings  to  the  conclusion  of  the  investi- 
gation. 

At  the  Monthly  Meeting  in  the  seventh  month,  a 
number  of  the  Yearly  Meeting's  committee  attended, 
and  again  accused  the  meeting  of  an  intention  to  make 
a  separation.  The  committee  in  the  case  of  John  Wil- 
bur stated  that  they  were  not  at  present  prepared  to  re- 
port, whereupon  one  of  the  Yearly  Meeting's  committee 
inquired  whether  no  part  of  the  committee  were  ready — 
a  question  which  indicated  more  than  it  expressed — to 
which  one  of  them  replied,  that  two  of  the  committee 
had  a  report  in  readiness  !  The  seven  other  members  of 
the  committee  had  not  been  consulted  about  it,  and 
knew  nothing  of  such  a  report.  But  the  Yearly  Meet- 
ing's committee  advocated  the  reading  of  it.  To  this, 
however,  the  meeting,  astonished  at  the  boldness  and 
irregularity  of  the  proceeding,  would  not  consent.  Now 
at  length  it  came  out,  who  they  were  who  were  aiming 


1842.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


61 


to  bring  about  a  "  separation  ;"  for  the  same  member  of 
the  committee  who  had  offered  the  report  of  the  two, 
proposed  "  that  those  who  were  in  unity  with  the  Yearly 
Meeting  and  with  its  committee,  should  stop  in  the  house 
for  a  short  time,  at  the  close  of  the  meeting."  The 
former  clerk  united  with  this,*  and  wished  the  Women's 
Meeting  informed  of  it  ;  and  the  Yearly  Meeting's  com- 
mittee encouraged  it.  The  meeting  generally,  however, 
objected  to  the  proposal,  and  showed  that  it  appeared  to 
be  a  plan  for  separation.  This  insidious  project  was 
thus  frustrated. 

At  the  Quarterly  Meeting  of  Rhode  Island  in  the 
eighth  month,  the  Yearly  Meeting's  committee  re- 
ported South  Kingston  Monthly  Meeting  to  be  in  a  state 
of  disunity,  disorder,  and  insubordination  ;  and  conse- 
quently another  committee  was  then  appointed  to  unite 
with  them  in  visiting  that  Monthly  Meeting,  although 
no  report  had  yet  been  made  in  John  Wilbur's  case. 

The  two  committees  were  in  attendance  at  the  ensu- 
ing Monthly  Meeting  held  near  the  close  of  the  eighth 
month,  and  claimed  for  the  Quarterly  Meeting's  com- 
mittee not  only  the  right  to  act  as  members  of  the 
Monthly  Meeting,  but  that  the  meeting  was  bound  to 
take  their  advice,  even  to  the  abrogation  of  its  recorded 
acts  for  months  past;  a  proceeding  before  unheard  of  in 
the  Society.  The  Monthly  Meeting  expressed  its  will- 
ingness to  hear  and  consider  whatever  advice  the  com- 
mittee might  offer,  and  give  it  all  proper  weight,  but 
claimed  the  right  to  exercise  its  own  judgment;  at  the 
same  time  acknowledging  itself  responsible  to  the  Quar- 


•  Address  of  Rhode  Island  Quarterly  Meeting,  1S45,  page  11. 


62 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN      [CHAP.  IX. 


terly  and  Yearly  Meetings,  according  to  the  Discipline, 
for  any  breach  of  the  order  of  the  Society. 

The  committee  in  J.  Wilbur's  case  now  made  a  report, 
signed  by  seven  of  the  nine,  to  the  effect  that,  on  a  full 
and  deliberate  investigation,  their  judgment  was,  that  the 
charges  against  J.  Wilbur  had  not  been  sustained,  but 
that  his  defence  was  sufficient  to  exonerate  him  from 
them  ;  as  it  appeared  from  the  evidence  before  them,  that 
the  complaint  had  originated  from  his  labors,  under 
apprehension  of  religious  duty,  and  in  conformity  with 
the  Discipline,  against  the  introduction  of  defective  prin- 
ciples, and  for  the  preservation  of  those  ancient  testimo- 
nies of  Truth  committed  to  us  as  a  people.  They  there- 
fore recommended  that  the  complaint  against  him  be 
dismissed.  Two  of  the  committee  presented  their  counter 
report.  The  report  of  the  seven,  however,  notwith- 
standing the  opposition  of  the  Quarterly  Meeting's  com- 
mittee, was  adopted  by  the  meeting,  with  a  very  large 
expression  of  approval  on  the  part  of  the  members. 

The  Monthly  Meeting  had  appointed  a  committee  to 
treat  with  the  former  clerk,  on  account  of  his  disorderly 
conduct  in  withholding  the  books  and  papers  of  the 
meeting  from  the  new  clerk.  At  the  Monthly  Meeting 
in  the  tenth  month,  four  of  the  Quarterly  Meeting's 
committee  of  fifteen,*  presented  a  document  signed  by 
themselves  only,  advising  the  Monthly  Meeting  to  re- 
store the  former  clerk,  to  dismiss  the  committee  in  his 
case,  to  annul  the  records  in  regard  to  it,  and  to  set  aside 
and  make  void  the  decision  in  the  eighth  month  in  rela- 
tion to  J.  Wilbur,  as  entered  on  their  minutes.  The 


*  J.  Wilbur's  Narrative  and  Exposition,  p.  15G. 


1842.]  THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY.  G3 


four  who  signed  this  advice  being  asked  whether  the 
other  (eleven)  members  of  the  Quarterly  Meeting's  com- 
mittee had  been  consulted  in  regard  to  it,  acknowledged 
that  they  had  not !  The  meeting,  taking  into  view  the 
great  importance  of  the  matter,  and  that  such  a  case  was 
entirely  unprecedented  in  the  Society,  and  feeling  the 
necessity  for  deliberation  and  care,  concluded  to  postpone 
the  further  consideration  of  the  advice  till  the  next 
month. 

But  meantime,  about  ten  days  after  this,  the  Quarterly 
Meeting  again  occurred,  and  the  committee  reported  the 
Monthly  Meeting  to  be  still  in  a  state  of  insubordina- 
tion, and  not  in  a  suitable  condition  to  transact  busi- 
ness in  conformity  with  the  Discipline,  nor  consistently 
with  our  Christian  profession  ;  and  recommended  that  it 
be  dissolved,  and  its  members  joined  to  Greenwich 
Monthly  Meeting.  This  elicited  much  discussion,  and 
it  was  clearly  shown  that  such  a  course  would  be  a  direct 
violation  of  the  Discipline  on  the  part  of  the  Quarterly 
Meeting.  But  some  of  the  Yearly  Meeting's  committee 
asserted  that  this  was  a  wrong  construction  of  the  Disci- 
pline. The  members  of  South  Kingston  Monthly  Meet- 
ing requested  to  be  allowed  to  be  heard  before  a  com- 
mittee, or  in  some  way  enabled  to  justify  themselves, 
before  the  Quarterly  Meeting  should  proceed  to  such  an 
extreme  measure  as  the  dissolution  of  the  meeting;.  But 
this  was  denied.  And  on  one  of  the  representatives  at- 
tempting, as  a  last  resort,  to  plead  their  cause  before  the 
Quarterly  Meeting,  he  was  told  by  the  clerk  (one  of  the 
Yearly  Meeting's  committee)  to  take  his  seat;  and  the 
latter  soon  read  the  minute  dissolving  South  Kingston 
Monthly  Meeting,  attaching  its  members  to  Greenwich 


64 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN      [CHAP.  IX. 


Monthly  Meeting,  devolving  on  the  latter  all  its  un- 
finished business,  and  declaring  null  and  void  the  pro- 
ceedings clearing  John  Wilbur,  and  all  that  had  been 
done  respecting  the  records  kept  back  from  the  meeting 
by  the  former  clerk  ! 

When  this  decision  was  communicated  to  the  Monthly 
Meeting  of  South  Kingston  two  or  three  weeks  after- 
wards, by  some  of  the  Quarterly  Meeting's  committee, 
a  copy  of  the  minute  was  requested  by  the  Monthly 
Meeting ;  but  this  was  refused,  and  the  committee  re- 
tired, accompanied  by  a  few  members  of  the  meeting. 
The  bulk  of  the  members  remained  together  to  take 
measures  to  appeal  to  the  Yearly  Meeting  against  this 
arbitrary  and  irregular  measure  ;  and  then  agreed  to  sus- 
pend all  farther  sittings  as  a  Monthly  Meeting  until 
their  appeal  should  be  decided. 

The  Discipline  of  New  England  Yearly  Meeting  pro- 
vides that  in  cases  where  it  is  considered  necessary  by  a 
Quarterly  Meeting  to  advise  a  Monthly  Meeting  to  any 
course,  if  that  Monthly  Meeting  is  dissatisfied  with  the 
advice,  it  "  may  appeal  to  the  Yearly  Meeting  against 
the  judgment  of  the  Quarterly  Meeting."  But  if  it  will 
not  appeal,  and  yet  will  not  submit  to  the  judgment  of 
the  Quarterly  Meeting,  the  latter  shall  be  at  liberty  to 
dissolve  the  Monthly  Meeting,  or  bring  the  subject  before 
the  next  or  succeeding  Yearly  Meeting.  But  when  the 
dissolution  is  decided  on  by  the  Quarterly  Meeting,  "  the 
dissolved  Monthly  Meeting,  or  any  part  thereof  in  the 
name  of  the  said  meeting,  shall  be  at  liberty  to  appeal 
to  the  next  or  succeeding  Yearly  Meeting,  against  such 
dissolution."  Yet  if  it  will  not  appeal,  then  the  Quar- 
terly Meeting  may  proceed  to  join  its  members  to  another 


1842.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


65 


Monthly  Meeting  ;  "and  until  such  time,  shall  take  care 
that  no  inconvenience  doth  thereby  ensue  to  any  of  the 
members  of  such  dissolved  meeting,  respecting  any  branch 
of  our  Discipline."  From  this  it  is  clear  that  all  sudden 
and  arbitrary  action  is  carefully  prohibited  to  Quarterly 
Meetings,  and  the  Monthly  Meetings  are  fully  and  clearly 
guaranteed  the  right  of  appealing,  first,  against  the  advice 
or  judgment  of  the  Quarterly  Meeting,  and  secondly, 
against  the  dissolution ;  and  the  Quarterly  Meeting  can- 
not proceed  to  consummate  their  action,  until  time  has 
been  given  to  the  Monthly  Meeting  to  decide  whether 
to  appeal  or  not.  But  here  was  an  instance  of  the  Quar- 
terly Meeting  summarily  dissolving  the  Monthly  Meet- 
ing, and  at  the  same  time  annulling  its  proceedings,  and 
transferring  its  members  and  unfinished  business  to 
another,  while  they  were  deliberating  concerning  taking 
the  advice — not  of  the  Quarterly  Meeting  itself,  as  pro- 
vided by  the  Discipline — but  of  a  small  part  of  its  com- 
mittee! As  to  the  assumption  to  annul  the  proceedings 
of  the  Monthly  Meeting  in  this  summary  and  arbitrary 
manner,  certainly  no  such  power  could  be  delegated  to 
a  Quarterly  Meeting  by  the  Discipline  of  any  Yearly 
Meeting  in  the  Society.  These  transactions  can  admit 
of  no  justification  except  in  Rome  itself. 

Greenwich  Monthly  Meeting,  to  which  the  members 
had  been  thus  attached,  now  became  the  instrument  for 
the  prompt  consummation  of  this  business.  John  Wil- 
bur's case  of  course  formed  a  principal  feature  of  the 
proceedings  against  which  the  Monthly  Meeting  had 
concluded  to  appeal,  and  ought  therefore  to  have  been 
considered  as  essentially  included  in  and  belonging  to 
that  appeal ;  but  this  view  of  it  was  disregarded  in  the 


G6 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IX      [CHAP.  IX. 


haste  to  have  him  disowned.  At  Greenwich  Monthly 
Meeting  the  Yearly  Meeting's  committee  urged,  that  as 
the  addition  to  the  committee  in  J.  Wilbur's  case  had 
been  by  the  Quarterly  Meeting  annulled  with  the  other 
proceedings,  it  now  became  the  duty  of  the  original 
committee  of  four  to  make  report  to  that  meeting.  This 
was  opposed,  on  the  ground  that  the  appeal  ought  to 
suspend  all  further  proceedings  in  that  case;  but  this 
objection  was  overruled,  and  that  committee  was  directed 
to  report  to  a  future  meeting. 

At  the  next  Greenwich  Monthly  Meeting,  viz.,  first 
month  30th,  1843,  the  report  of  the  tiro  members  of  the 
committee  of  South  Kingston  Monthly  Meeting,  dated  six 
months  before,  viz.,  seventh  month  23d,  1842,  without 
consultation,  as  it  appeared,  with  the  others,  was  presented 
by  them,  declaring  that  in  their  judgment  all  the  charges 
against  J.  Wilbur  had  been  substantiated,  and  that  he 
was  not  in  a  situation  to  be  continued  in  membership. 
But  here  it  was  discovered  that  those  charges  had  never 
been  read  in  that  Monthly  Meeting !  The  meeting 
waited  until  the  paper  of  complaint  could  be  sent  for, 
which  on  the  messenger's  return  was  read,  the  report  of 
the  two  was  united  with  by  the  members  of  the  Yearly 
and  Quarterly  Meetings'  committees  present,  and  by  two 
otheis,  members  of  the  meeting;  and  though  objected 
to  by  several  friends,  the  clerk,  a  member  of  the  Yearly 
Meeting's  committee,  made  a  minute  adopting  it ;  and  in 
this  hasty,  arbitrary,  and  disorderly  manner,  unparal- 
leled in  the  annals  of  the  Society,  John  Wilbur  was 
disowned  ! 

In  violation  of  an  express  provision  of  the  Discipline, 
guaranteeing  to  the  members  on  all  proper  occasions  the 


1844.]  THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY.  67 

use  of  the  records  of  the  meetings,  the  Quarterly  Meeting 
refused  the  request  made  to  it  on  behalf  of  South  Kings- 
ton Monthly  Meeting,  for  a  copy  of  the  minute  dissolv- 
ing it,  against  which  it  was  preparing  to  appeal ;  and 
the  attempt  was  made  more  than  once,  by  raising  frivo- 
lous obstacles,  to  baffle  and  prevent  the  appeal  from 
going  forward. 

It  seems  needless  to  swell  these  recitals  of  repeated 
and  disgraceful  wrongs,  by  further  details  in  regard  to 
the  proceedings  respecting  the  appeal.  Let  it  suffice  to 
say  that  the  same  party  influences  impelled  the  Yearly 
Meeting  to  reject  the  allegations  of  the  appeal,  when  pre- 
sented, and  to  confirm  the  action  of  Rhode  Island  Quar- 
terly Meeting;  and  in  like  manner,  the  next  year,  1844, 
to  reject  the  individual  appeal  of  John  Wilbur  against 
the  action  of  Greenwich  Monthly  Meeting  and  Rhode 
Island  Quarterly  Meeting  in  his  own  case,  and  to  confirm 
their  disownment  of  him  contrary  to  all  rules  of  disci- 
pline and  all  former  usage,  and  obviously  for  the  purpose 
of  upholding  a  new  and  overwhelming  party,  founded 
upon  novel  views.  In  short,  these  transactions  respect- 
ing the  two  appeals  were  characterized  by  the  same  in- 
justice and  overbearing  oppression  by  which  the  original 
measures  appealed  against  had  been  accomplished,  and 
were  managed  by  the  same  parties.  When  the  appoint- 
ment of  a  committee  in  the  Yearly  Meeting,  to  hear 
J.  Wilbur's  appeal,  was  completed,  he  requested  to  be 
allowed  some  one  to  assist  him  before  the  committee, 
inasmuch  as,  from  his  age  (then  about  70  years)  and 
infirmity,  it  would  be  a  hard  task  for  him  to  perform 
the  necessary  labor  in  prosecuting  his  appeal.  Many 


68 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN      [CHAP.  IX. 


expressed  themselves  in  favor  of  granting  this  reason- 
able request,  but  the  meeting  decided  against  it.* 

I  have  endeavored  to  present  these  grievous  events 
unbroken  by  other  matter,  so  that  the  reader  may  more 
clearly  see  and  understand  the  whole  case.  Much  has 
been  omitted  for  the  sake  of  this  clear  view,  and  for 
brevity  itself,  but  I  believe  the  narrative  is  not  distorted 
in  any  way  by  partiality,  nor  anything  omitted  by 
which  its  truthfulness  would  suffer,  or  the  true  com- 
plexion of  the  transactions  be  altered. 

But  for  this  desire  to  keep  the  account  unbroken, 
much  might  have  been  added,  to  show,  on  the  one  hand, 
that  John  Wilbur  remained  firm  and  unwavering:  in  his 
testimony  against  those  erroneous  sentiments  which  he 
clearly  saw  were  making  so  baneful  an  inroad  in  the 
Society  ;  and  on  the  other  hand,  that  he  was  by  no  means 
without  the  sympathy  and  encouragement  of  many  ex- 
perienced and  worthy  Friends,  both  in  this  land  and  in 
England,  who  endeavored  by  affectionate  epistles  to  up- 
hold his  hands  and  animate  his  spirit  to  continued  con- 
stancy through  his  deep  trials.  Among  these  were  such 
as  Ann  Jones,  Lydia  A.  Barclay,  George  and  Margaret 
Crosfield,  Ezra  Comfort,  and  Ann  Coning  ;  whose  warm 
sympathizing  letters,  in  addition  to  those  from  various 
other  friends  nearer  home,  were  particularly  cordial  to 
his  mind.  In  one  of  Ann  Jones's  letters,  she  quoted 
for  his  encouragement  a  characteristic  expression  of 
Daniel  Wheeler's,  when,  lying  off  the  Mother  Bank  in 
the  "  Henry  Freeling,"  and  "  suffering  from  the  same 
spirit,"  he  briefly  said  to  a  friend  in  reply  to  an  expres- 

*  Journal  and  Correspondence  of  J.  W.,  p.  333. 


1842.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


69 


sion  of  sympathy,  "The  sun  can  shine  in  the  Inquisi- 
tion \"  And  truly  during  this  time  of  oppression  by  the 
spirit  of  darkness,  there  were  many  occasions  when  John 
Wilbur  was  mercifully  given  to  witness  that  the  sun  of 
righteousness  did  renewedly  shine  forth  with  healing 
virtue,  confirming  his  faith,  and  renewing  his  strength 
for  the  war  against  spiritual  wickedness  in  high  places. 

In  the  second  month,  1842,  while  still  under  the 
treatment  of  the  Yearly  Meeting's  committee,  he  sent 
an  address  to  the  Meeting  for  Sufferings,  accompanied  by 
extracts  from  J.  J.  Gurney's  writings,  desiring  them  to 
examine  these,  and  decide  touching  their  soundness,  and 
then  lay  the  result  of  their  labors  before  the  Society ; 
hoping  that  if  rightly  done,  it  would  contribute  to  the 
safety  of  the  body  and  the  restoration  of  harmony. 
This  address  was  referred  to  a  committee  for  three 
months,  and  then  nothing  came  of  it.  The  same  tacit 
suppression  was  given  to  a  similar  application  from  the 
ministers,  elders,  and  overseers  of  the  Island  of  Nan- 
tucket, signed  by  fifteen  of  the  members  in  those  sta- 
tions, all  that  were  present  at  the  time  the  document 
was  adopted.  An  application  of  the  same  kind  from 
South  Kingston  Monthly  Meeting,  in  1841,  had  already 
been  disposed  of  with  the  same  negation.* 

A  number  of  Friends  known  to  be  opposed  to  the  new 
views  were  now  brought  under  censure  by  the  same 
party  management  by  which  J.  Wilbur's  case  had  been 
laid  hold  of.  It  was  not  to  be  expected  that  so  open 
and  clear  a  testimony  against  J.  J.  Gurney's  unsound 
doctrines  as  was  maintained  by  Thomas  B.  Gould,' of 

*  Depositions,  etc.,  in  Fall  River  Suit,  Earle  v.  Wood,  p.  156.  Boston,  T.  It. 
Marvin,  1850. 


70 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN      [CHAP.  IX. 


Newport,  would  escape  the  efforts  of  the  leaders  to  sup- 
press it.*  But  for  some  years,  the  overseers  of  Newport 
Preparative  Meeting  being  opposed  to  the  new  doctrines 
and  measures,  nothing  could  be  openly  done  towards 
the  accomplishment  of  what  some  of  the  active  mem- 
bers of  the  party  were  known  to  have  expressed  as  their 
fixed  desire,  his  disownment.  From  the  year  1840,  T. 
B.  Gould  had  spoken  a  few  times  in  the  ministry.  In 
1843,  after  an  irregular  attempt  to  deal  with  him  by 
the  meeting  of  ministers  and  elders,  to  which  he  did  not 
at  that  time  belong,  and  subsequently  by  the  overseers 
of  another  Preparative  Meeting,  the  party  succeeded  in 
appointing  two  overseers  for  Newport,  of  their  own 
sort,  one  of  them  clerk  of  the  Monthly  Meeting  of 
Rhode  Island  and  an  influential  member  of  the  Yearly 
Meeting's  committee,  and  the  other  so  completely  sub- 
jugated to  that  influence,  that  in  one  of  the  interviews 
soon  afterwards  had  with  T.  B.  Gould,  he  avowed  to 
the  latter,  "  that  if  some  of  the  leaders  (naming  two  or 
three)  were  to  order  him  to  do  what  he  knew  to  be 
wrong,  he  would  do  it,  and  let  them  take  the  responsi- 
bility;"  adding  that  he  thought  T.  B.  Gould  ought  to 
do  in  like  manner,  and  act  according  to  the  desire  of 
those  who  wished  him  to  give  up  his  testimony  against 
J.  J.  Gurney's  doctrines  ;f  and  advising  him  to  "stick 
to  the  body,  right  or  wrong!" 

These  overseers,  after  several  interviews,  brought  a 
complaint  against  him  into  Rhode  Island  Monthly  Meet- 

*  In  1840,  when  the  Yearly  Meeting  of  Xew  England  granted  a  return  certifi- 
cate to  J.  J.  Gurney,  T.  B.  Gould  was  among  those  who  openly  opposed  the 
measure.  His  testimony  given  to  the  Supreme  Court  in  the  Fall  Itiver  Suit 
(Depositions,  etc.,  pp.201  to  22.))  is  the  most  lucid1  and  valuable  of  any  in  the 
volume. 

t  Letters  and  Memoirs  of  T.  B.  Gould,  Philadelphia,  1860,  p.  187. 


1843.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


71 


ing,  without  going  first  through  the  Preparative  Meet- 
ing, according  to  former  usage  and  the  uniform  good 
order  of  the  Society,  and  pressed  it  upon  the  meeting 
for  prompt  action,  T.  B.  Gould  having  been  unexpect- 
edly prevented  from  being  present  that  day.  The  irregu- 
larity of  its  introduction  was  the  occasion  of  much  re- 
mark in  the  meeting,  shared  even  by  some  of  the  Gur- 
ney  party  ;  but  D.  B.,  one  of  the  overseers  who  brought 
in  the  complaint,  urged  its  being  then  attended  to,  as 
such  an  opportunity  might  not  soon  again  occur  !  This 
overseer  being  also  the  clerk,  made  it  all  the  more  easy, 
and  a  committee  was  accordingly  appointed,  of  three 
men  and  two  women,  to  treat  with  him  on  the  complaint. 
This  committee  had  repeated  interviews  with  him  dur- 
ing a  space  of  nine  months.  At  the  first  two  of  these, 
they  not  only  produced  no  copy  of  the  complaint,  but 
seemed  really  not  to  know  what  the  charge  was  against 
him.  But  as  he  insisted  on  his  right  to  be  informed  of 
the  nature  of  it,  at  the  third  opportunity  they  brought 
what  they  said  was  a  copy  of  it,  but  would  by  no  means 
allow  him  to'have  it  in  his  own  hand.  To  his  appeal 
against  such  behavior,  they  replied  by  disavowing  any 
lack  of  confidence  in  his  honor  or  integrity ;  but  the  one 
who  had  it  said  that  they  had  been  strictly  enjoined  by 
D.  B.  the  overseer  and  clerk,  not  to  let  T.  B.  Gould 
have  it  by  any  means!*  Thomas  reminded  one  of  these 
men  of  what  he  had  some  time  previously  said  to  him, 
while  standing  together  in  the  meeting-house  yard,  that 
the  greatest  desire  he  had  was  to  have  him  disowned, 
for  his  intimacy  with  J.  Wilbur,  and  his  opposition  to 


*  Letters  aud  Memoirs  of  T.  B.  Gould,  p.  184. 


72 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN      [CHAP.  IX. 


J.  J.  Gurney.  But  on  this  being  now  mentioned  to 
him  in  presence  of  the  rest,  he  vehemently  denied  it, 
declaring,  "  God  Almighty  knows  that  I  never  said  so  !" 
Thomas  told  him  that  it  really  was  as  he  had  said,  and 
cautioned  him  in  regard  to  his  awful  denial  of  it;  but 
he  persisted  in  his  appeals  to  the  Almighty,  in  a  manner 
very  painful  to  listen  to.  T.  B.  Gould  afterwards  un- 
derstood, from  his  wife,  that  the  complaint  charged  him 
with  manifesting  himself  out  of  unity  with  Friends  in 
their  meetings  for  discipline,  and  with  having  accused 
the  overseers  of  being  actuated  by  a  spirit  of  envy  and 
malice.  The  latter  clause  was  merely  founded  on  his 
having  objected  to  one  of  their  members  being  brought 
under  dealing,  by  alleging  that  one  of  the  overseers  had 
admitted  to  him  that  the  other  overseer  had  been  actu- 
ated by  an  envious  and  malicious  spirit  against  the 
Friend,  and  was  resolved  to  have  him  disowned. 

At  one  of  their  last  interviews  with  him,  the  commit- 
tee manifested  an  arbitrary  and  bitter  spirit,  still  de- 
clining to  furnish  him  with  a  copy  of  the  complaint,  but 
telling  him  that  their  business  with  him  was,  "to  get  an 
acknowledgment  from  him — that  was  their  business;" 
that  he  knew  well  enough  what  his  offence  was — there 
was  no  need  of  talking  about  it,  or  of  his  seeing  the 
complaint;  that  they  had  forgotten  to  bring  it;  and 
justifying  the  charge  of  disunity,  by  referring  to  certain 
occasions  when  he  had  objected  to  proposed  action  on 
the  part  of  the  Monthly  Meeting,  saying,  this  was  the 
foundation  of  that  part  of  the  charge.  They  also  ac- 
cused him  of  writing  letters,  and  showing  other  letters, 
to  produce  a  schism  in  the  Society.  This  he  denied, 
saying  that  the  great  object  and  end  of  his  labors  had 


1844.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


73 


been  to  prevent  a  schism,  and  appealed  to  the  committee 
to  produce  or  specify  such  letters  as  were  spoken  of. 
But  this  they  could  not  do.  Various  other  frivolous 
charges  were  alleged  against  him,  and  shown  by  him  to 
be  groundless.  Towards  the  close  of  the  opportunity, 
after  a  time  of  silence  of  his  suggesting,  he  was  con- 
strained to  open  his  mouth  among  them,  in  brokenness 
and  fear,  appealing  to  the  Searcher  of  hearts,  "who 
knoweth  what  is  in  man,  and  needeth  not  that  any  man 
should  testify  unto  him  of  man  ;  with  the  expression  of 
a  fervent  desire,  that  He  would  be  pleased  to  furnish 
witli  wisdom,  to  guide  amidst  the  storm,  and  strength 
to  endure  and  stand  firm,  that  so  His  name  might  not 
be  dishonored."  A  feeling  of  solemnity  spread  over 
them,  so  that  one  of  the  women  could  do  no  less  than 
respond  to  what  he  had  expressed.* 

After  nine  months  of  this  treatment  by  the  committee, 
during  a  part  of  which  T.  B.  Gould  was  very  ill,  he 
was  one  day  informed  by  a  person  who  happened  to  meet 
him  in  the  street,  that  their  last  Monthly  Meeting  had 
disowned  him.  But  as  the  separation  to  be  presently 
mentioned  had  then  taken  place  in  several  of  the 
Monthly  Meetings  of  Rhode  Island  Quarterly  Meeting, 
T.  B.  Gould's  disownment  was  only  consummated  by  a 
separate  and  schismatic  meeting.  His  own  Monthly 
Meeting,  on  the  separation  taking  place,  had  dismissed 
the  complaint  as  groundless  and  false,  and  restored  him 
to  his  standing  as  a  member  in  unity.  The  first  knowl- 
edge that  he  obtained  of  any  written  testimony  of  dis- 
ownment having  been  issued  against  him  by  the  Gurney 

*  Letters  aud  Memoirs  of  T.  15.  G.,  p.  22G. 

VOL.  II.  —  7 


74 


THE  SOCIETY  OP  FRIENDS  IN      [CHAP.  IX. 


Meeting  was  ten  years  afterwards,  while  attending  the 
stormy  Yearly  Meeting  of  Ohio  (at  the  time  of  the 
Gurney  separation  there),  when  one  Zadok  Street  held 
up  a  paper,  in  much  excitement,  declaring  it  was  a  testi- 
mony of  disownment  of  T.  B.  Gould. 

The  momentous  sequel  of  these  transactions  must  now 
be  told.  The  year  1845  was  rendered  sorrowfully  mem- 
orable by  the  accomplishment,  on  the  part  of  the  adher- 
ents of  J.  J.  Gurney,  of  an  open  schism  in  the  Yearly 
Meeting  of  New  England,  for  the  purpose  of  sustaining 
the  standing  of  that  author,  and  consequently  also  the 
prevalent  influence  of  his  novel  doctrines  and  practices. 

In  Swanzey  Monthly  Meeting,  a  branch  of  Rhode 
Island  Quarterly  Meeting,  great  diversity  of  sentiment 
had  existed  for  a  considerable  time  on  the  subjects  now 
dividing  the  Society,  insomuch  that  committees  ap- 
pointed for  the  selection  of  fresh  overseers  and  clerks 
were,  for  about  two  years,  unable  to  agree.  A  principal 
cause  of  this  difficulty  arose  from  the  circumstance  that 
several  members  of  the  Committee  on  Overseers  were 
persistently  in  favor  of  nominating  an  individual  whom 
others  did  not  consider  at  all  eligible,  on  account  of  an 
unsettled  difference  between  him  and  another  Friend, 
and  also  that  he  had  aided  in  the  circulation  of  a  pam- 
phlet of  J.  J.  Gurney's,  containing  unsound  sentiments, 
and  would  make  no  concessions.  This  individual  took 
offence  at  being  thus  objected  to,  repeatedly  endeavored 
to  get  his  supposed  grievance  before  the  Monthly  Meet- 
ing, and,  with  a  few  other  members,  frustrated  all  at- 
tempts therein  to  come  to  an  agreement  or  united  ap- 
pointment of  overseers  or  clerks. 

In  the  eighth  month,  1842,  on  account,  as  was  alleged, 


1844.] 


T1IK  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


75 


of  deficiencies  in  the  answers  to  the  queries,  the  Quar- 
terly Meeting  appointed  a  committee  to  visit  South 
Kingston  and  Swanzey  Monthly  Meetings.  This  com- 
mittee, along  with  that  of  the  Yearly  Meeting,  took  the 
same  overbearing  measures,  in  attempting  to  coerce  the 
proceedings  of  Swanzey  Monthly  Meeting,  as  we  have 
already  seen  they  did  with  that  of  South  Kingston. 
They  cited  before  them  the  Monthly  Meeting's  Com- 
mittees on  Overseers  and  Clerks,  in  the  seventh  month, 
1844,  and  desired  them  to  come  to  an  agreement,  and 
report,  their  proceedings  to  them.  The  Committee  on 
Overseers  then  agreed  on  five  names,  several  giving  up 
their  objections  for  the  sake  of  coming  to  some  definite 
conclusion ;  but  a  sixtli  name  being  urged  on  behalf  of 
the  party,  prevented  four  of  the  committee  from  signing 
the  report,  as  they  could  not  conscientiously  unite  with 
that  name.  On  learning  this,  the  Yearly  Meeting's  com- 
mittee assumed  authority  to  add  the  sixth  name  them- 
selves, which  was  that  of  the  individual  before  spoken 
of  as  having  formerly  been  objected  to,  and  who  had 
also  been  instrumental  in  defeating  other  nominations 
on  the  ground  that  they  were  not  signed  by  all  the  com- 
mittee. This  name,  therefore,  could  not  go  forward  with 
the  approbation  of  the  four  members  above  mentioned. 
The  Committee  on  Clerks  also  had  not  been  able  to 
agree. 

At  the  next  Monthly  Meeting  the  Yearly  Meeting's 
committee  was  in  attendance,  and  a  report  was  presented, 
signed  by  three  of  the  Committee  of  seven  on  Clerks  ; 
and  about  the  same  time  a  document  was  handed  in  from 
the  Yearly  Meeting's  committee,  declaring  their  judg- 
ment of  the  innocence  of  the  individual  before  alluded 


76 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN      [CHAP.  IX. 


to,  and  advising  his  appointment  as  overseer,  along  with 
the  five  others.  They  also  advised  that  as  the  Commit- 
tee on  Clerks  had  not  agreed  on  any  names  to  propose, 
the  meeting  should  appoint  two,  whom  they  named  (and 
who  were  the  same  as  named  in  the  report  of  the  three 
above  mentioned),  as  clerk  and  assistant  clerk.  This 
being  urged  by  them  upon  the  meeting,  its  right,  secured 
by  the  Discipline,  to  appeal  against  the  advice,  was 
shown  by  reading  the  provisions  to  that  effect  in  the 
Book  of  Discipline;  but  notwithstanding  much  objec- 
tion made  to  these  arbitrary  proceedings,  the  Yearly 
Meeting's  committee  pressed  their  advice  upon  the 
meeting.  At  length  the  clerk  made  a  minute,  referring 
the  subject  to  the  next  Monthly  Meeting ;  basing  the 
minute,  as  he  said,  when  inquired  of,  on  the  expression 
of  the  most  substantial  and  exemplary  members  of  the 
meeting,  on  the  fact  that  the  nomination  for  clerks  was 
made  by  three  only  out  of  a  committee  of  seven  mem- 
bers, and  on  the  usage  of  the  Monthly  Meeting,  when 
so  greatly  divided  in  sentiment,  to  wait  for  more  unity 
before  proceeding. 

Two  out  of  a  Committee  of  seven  on  Overseers,  then 
nominated  six  members  for  that  station,  all  belonging  to 
the  Gurney  party,  and  including  the  abovementioned 
objectionable  individual.  Several  of  the  committee  said 
they  would  have  signed  the  report,  but  for  the  retention 
on  it  of  this  last  name ;  and  offered  their  reasons  for 
not  doing  so,  including  the  fact  of  his  having  the  well- 
known  unsettled  difference  with  another  member  still 
pending,  and  likely  before  long  to  claim  the  notice  of 
the  Monthly  Meeting.  Yet  the  Yearly  Meeting's  com- 
mittee still  urged  his  appointment  as  one  of  the  over- 


1*4  L] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


77 


seers.  Much  objection  being  made  to  this,  it  was  pro- 
posed by  some,  by  way  of  compromise,  that  the  five 
others  should  be  appointed,  leaving  out  the  sixth  for  the 
present  ;  but  tin's  was  refused,  unless  the  whole  report 
was  adopted.  The  clerk  afterwards  inquired  if  the 
Yearly  Meeting's  committee  would  consent  to  the  sub- 
stitution of  a  certain  other  member  (also  one  of  their 
own  party)  instead  of  this  individual.  But  one  of  the 
Yearly  Meeting's  committee  (John  Meader)  promptly 
replied,  "  The  committee  have  all  agreed  ;  it's  fixed  ;  we 
can  make  no  compromise  ! " 

The  clerk  then  collected  the  sense  of  the  meeting, 
and  made  a  minute  referring  the  subject  for  one  month 
for  further  consideration.  The  usual  answers  to  the 
queries  were  adopted,  and  directed  to  the  ensuing  Quar- 
terly Meeting.  Representatives  thereto  were  appointed, 
and  after  a  sitting  of  six  hours  the  meeting  concluded 
as  usual. 

The  ensuing  Quarterly  Meeting  received  and  recog- 
nized the  representatives  and  answers  to  the  queries  thus 
sent,  with  the  signature  of  Thomas  Wilbur  as  clerk. 

But  at  the  subsequent  Monthly  Meeting,  in  the 
eighth  month,  after  the  clerk  had  taken  his  seat  at  the 
table,  but  before  he  had  read  the  opening  minute,  John 
Meader,  who  Was  not  a  member  of  that  Monthly  Meet- 
ing, rose  and  informed  the  meeting  that  the  Quarterly 
Meeting  had  released  its  former  committee,  and  had  ap- 
pointed a  number  of  Friends  to  attend  that  meeting, 
and  assist  in  transacting  the  business,  in  appointing  its 
officers,  and  in  the  due  organization  of  the  same;  and 
closed  his  remarks  by  proposing  that  Thomas  Wilbur 
should  now  leave  the  table,  and  David  Shove  should 


78 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IX      [CHAP.  IX. 


take  his  seat  as  clerk.  This  outrageous  proposal  was 
promptly  united  with  by  a  number  of  strangers  then 
present,  who,  however,  had  given  no  evidence  of  their 
right  to  meddle  with  the  business  of  the  meeting,  and 
presented  no  credentials,  though  repeatedlv  urged  to 
show  their  authority  for  thus  interfering.  The  change 
of  clerk  was  persistently  pressed  by  John  Meader,  and 
also  by  some  of  the  members  of  the  Monthly  Meeting 
who  belonged  to  the  innovating  party,  though  objected 
to  by  others.  The  object  of  their  desiring  the  proposed 
change  was  clearly  seen  to  be  to  obtain  control  of  the 
meeting,  and  thus  to  procure  the  disownment  of  those 
who  stood  opposed  to  the  introduction  of  the  spurious 
doctrines ;  and  the  character  of  those  doctrines  was 
alluded  to,  with  the  design  entertained  by  some  to  ob- 
tain their  establishment  in  the  Society.  The  important 
fact  was  also  noticed,  that  the  first  prominent  manifesta- 
tion of  disunity  in  that  Monthly  Meeting  had  been  an 
attempt  to  have  a  Friend  dealt  with  for  speaking  against 
the  circulation  of  unsound  doctrines. 

After  some  further  discussion,  at  the  request  of  sev- 
eral friends,  the  clerk,  Thomas  Wilbur,  proceeded  to 
open  the  Monthly  Meeting;  whereupon  John  Meader 
repeated  his  desire  for  D.  Shove  to  go  to  the  table.  This 
person  accordingly  approached  it,  aided  by  two  of  the 
strangers,  one  of  whom  took  him  by  the  arm  and  led 
him  forward;  but  finding  no  room  made  for  him  there, 
he  paused  a  moment,  and  at  J.  Meader's  suggestion  took 
another  seat,  where  he  soon  began  to  write.  Meantime 
the  regular  clerk  had  read  the  opening  minute,  and  the 
meeting  was  proceeding  with  its  usual  business.  But  in 
the  midst  of  this,  the  usurping  clerk  began  to  read  from 


IS  1  I.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


79 


^  several  papers,  greatly  to  the  disturbance  of  the  meeting. 
After  this,  John  Meader,  who  seemed  to  take  the  lead 
throughout  in  these  disorderly  proceedings,  proposed  to 
adjourn  ;  which  was  united  with  by  some  of  the  stran- 
gers and  by  two  or  three  members  of  the  meeting.  Soon 
afterwards,  while  the  regular  clerk  was  reading  something 
of  the  business  of  the  meeting,  John  Meader  again  urged 
an  adjournment,  with  an  appearance  of  impatience; 
whereupon  several  others  rising  from  their  seats,  the 
Gurney  party's  clerk  said,  "  The  meeting  is  adjourned 
to  3  o'clock."  John  Meader  said  that  all  those  who 
should  remain  sitting  after  this,  would  be  considered  out 
of  unity  with  the  Yearly  and  Quarterly  Meetings. 
Most  of  the  strangers  and  many  of  the  members  then 
left  the  house.  But  the  regular  clerk  notified  Friends 
that  the  meeting  had  not  adjourned ;  and  about  thirty 
members  of  the  meeting  remained  to  finish  the  business 
which  necessarily  came  before  it,  including  the  appoint- 
ment of  overseers,  and  then  quietly  concluded.  The 
strangers  present  were  probably  the  new  committee  of 
the  Quarterly  Meeting  alluded  to  by  J.  Meader.  But 
if  so,  they  ought  to  have  produced  their  authority  before 
interfering,  and  then  limited  their  interference  within 
their  authority.  They  could  have  no  legitimate  author- 
ity to  compel  a  Monthly  Meeting  to  act  contrary  to  its 
conscientious  convictions.  They  may  probably  have  with- 
held the  presenting  of  their  credentials  till  they  got  their 
own  clerk;  but  it  was  clearly  irregular  in  them  to  assume 
authority  in  that  meeting,  until  their  credentials  were 
presented  ;  and  as  the  Quarterly  Meeting  had  accepted 
the  answers  to  the  queries,  and  the  representatives  ap- 


80 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN      [CHAP.  IX. 


pointed,  under  the  action  of  the  old  clerk,  they  could 
have  no  claim  now  to  pretend  that  he  was  not  the  clerk 
of  the  meeting,  and  refuse  to  hand  him  their  credentials, 
if  they  had  any.  Two  of  them  were  the  very  same  men 
who  had  endeavored  already,  as  we  have  seen  on  page 
Gl,  to  bring  about  a  similar  disorderly  separation  in 
South  Kingston  Monthlv  Meeting. 

In  the  afternoon,  the  schismatic  party  with  their  new 
clerk,  and  the  Quarterly  Meeting's  committee,  returned 
to  the  house  to  hold  their  separate  meeting,  styling  it, 
nevertheless,  Swanzey  Monthly  Meeting,  and  appointed 
their  own  overseers  and  representatives  to  the  Quarterly 
Meeting.  Thus  commenced  the  memorable  disruption 
of  New  England  Yearly  Meeting. 

At  the  Quarterly  Meeting,  in  the  eleventh  month,  the 
clerk  and  other  leading  members,  many  of  whom  had 
been  active  in  promoting  these  disorderly  proceedings, 
refused  to  receive  the  representatives  or  the  usual  ac- 
count sent  by  the  true  Swanzey  Monthly  Meeting  with 
the  signature  of  its  old  clerk,  but  accepted  those  from 
the  schismatic  Monthly  Meeting,  of  their  own  party's 
setting  up ;  thereby  identifying  themselves  with  the 
schism,  and  with  the  principles  on  account  of  which  it 
was  undertaken.  Thus  a  necessity  devolved  upon  those 
who  would  remain  faithful  to  the  true  principles  of  the 
Society,  to  endeavor  to  sustain  the  Quarterly  Meeting 
and  its  branches  on  the  ancient  foundation.  These  latter, 
therefore,  after  warning  and  entreating  the  others  to  no 
purpose,  and  waiting  till  they  had  finished  their  busi- 
ness, remained  together,  appointed  a  clerk,  received  the 
accounts  and  representatives  sent  by  the  true  Swanzey 


1844.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


si 


Monthly  Meeting,  and  transacted  the  other  business  as 
the  Quarterly  Meeting  of  Rhode  Island.* 

"This,"  says  the  author  of  'Considerations  Addressed  to 
"  the  Members  of  the  Yearly  Meeting  of  Philadelphia  '  (1846, 
"  page  SO),  was  analogous  with  the  transaction  in  Baltimore 
"  Yearly  Meeting,  when  Friends  left  that  body  as  soon  as  it 
"  had  identified  itself  with  the  Ilicksites,  by  the  reception  of 
"  their  Epistle,  and  the  rejection  of  that  from  Friends."! 

Those  acting  with  and  for  the  Yearly  and  Quarterly 
Meetings'  committees,  having  thus  undertaken  to  in- 
augurate a  separation,  and  this  separation  having  now 
been  carried  through  the  Quarterly  Meeting  itself  by 
the  same  parties,  the  subordinate  meetings  of  Rhode 
Island  Quarter  were  soon  afterwards  divided,  both  as 
to  discipline  and  worship. 

"  The  Meeting  for  Sufferings "  (says  the  above-cpioted 
author  of  the  "Considerations,"  in  his  lucid  review  of  these 
transactions),  "  composed  principally  of  the  same  Friends 
"  who  were  on  the  Yearly  Meeting's  committee,  without 
"  waiting  for  the  judgment  of  the  Yearly  Meeting  in  the  case, 
"  issued  a  Circular  to  the  Preparative,  Monthly,  and  Quarterly 
"  Meetings,  giving  their  version  of  the  separation  and  the 
"  causes  leading  to  it,  and  denouncing  those  as  Separatists 
"  who  believed  they  were  obliged  to  take  the  steps  they  did, 
"  for  the  preservation  of  the  order  and  discipline  of  the  So- 
"  ciety,  and  the  maintenance  of  the  faith  it  had  been  raised 
"  up  to  support.  The  Quarterly  Meeting,  which  had  simply 
"  refused  to  join  in  with  those  who  separated  from  it,  was 
"  represented  as  having  acted  from  a  '  spirit  of  disaffection, 
"  '  and  desire  for  individual  liberty,  that  is  not  willing  to  sub- 
"  '  mit  to  the  subordination  recognized  in  our  Discipline,'  etc. 

*  "Address  of  Rhode  Island  Quarterly  Meeting  of  Friends,"  184.').  New  Vork, 
Piercy  &  Reid. 
t  See  Volume  I,  page  187  to  190. 

VOL.  II. — 8 


82 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN      [('HAP.  IX. 


"  The  Meeting  for  Sufferings  having  thus  stepped  out  of  its 
"  proper  sphere,  and  held  up  their  fellow-members  for  censure 
"  and  rejection  by  the  Society  at  large,  it  rendered  it  necessary 
"for  the  Quarterly  Meeting  to  publish  their  account  of  the 
"  proceedings  which  terminated  in  the  secession  of  those  who 
"  left  Swanzey  Monthly  Meeting,  and  set  up  a  meeting  for 
"  themselves,  and  the  course  it  had  had  to  pursue  in  order  to 
"preserve  Rhode  Island  Quarterly  Meeting  on  its  original 
"  foundation."* 

Previous  to  the  ensuing  Yearly  Meeting,  a  contrivance 
was  resorted  to,  somewhat  similar  to  that  of  the  Hicks 
party  in  anticipation  of  the  separation  in  Philadelphia 
Yearly  Meeting  of  1827.  But  instead  of  increasing 
the  numbers  of  their  representatives,  as  had  been  done 
by  the  Hicksites,  the  leaders  in  New  England  proscribed 
those  who  were  opposed  to  their  proceedings,  and  pre- 
vented their  appointment  in  several  of  the  meetings. 
Thus  they  succeeded  to  a  great  extent  (in  view  of  what 
was  to  occur)  in  making  the  body  of  representatives  as 
it  were  a  packed  jury. 

Such  was  the  state  of  things  when  New  England 
Yearly  Meeting  convened  at  Newport  in  the  sixth 
month,  1845.  As  the  transactions  were  peculiar,  and 
of  great  importance,  they  may  be  best  described  in  the 
language  used  by  our  Friends  of  that  Yearly  Meeting, 
in  the  document  which  they  issued  on  the  occasion  for 
the  information  of  their  own  members  and  of  the  Society 
at  large.  The  fads,  as  stated,  have  never,  to  the  writer's 
knowledge,  been  called  in  question,  and  substantial/;/ 
agree  in  all  essential  points  with  the  very  superficial 

*  From  "Considerations  addressed  to  the  Members  of  Philadelphia  Yearly 
Meeting;"  by  Charles  Evans,  Philadelphia,  1846,  page  81. 


1845.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


83 


statement  of  this  transaction  in  the  "Narrative"  put 
forth  by  the  Gurney  body. 

"  At  the  first  sitting  of  the  Yearly  Meeting,  the  report  from 
"the  spurious  [or  Gurney]  Quarterly  Meeting  [of  Rhode 
"  Island]  was  read,  together  with  those  from  the  other  quar- 
ters, and  the  representatives'  names  entered  upon  the  min- 
"  utes.  The  report  from  the  genuine  Rhode  Island  Quarterly 
"  Meeting  was  afterwards  read  and  minuted  as  purporting  to 
"  come  from  that  meeting,  and  the  representatives'  names 
"  recorded,  whereupon  a  member  of  the  Standing  Committee 
"  [of  the  Yearly  Meeting]  proposed  a  reference  of  the  subject 
"  to  the  representatives  from  all  the  Quarterly  Meetings  ex- 
"  cept  Rhode  Island,  for  them  to  report  which  of  the  two 
"meetings  and  sets  of  representatives  should  be  acknowledged 
"  by  the  Yearly  Meeting. 

"  The  representatives  from  Rhode  Island  Quarterly  Meet- 
ing* objected  to  this  proposition,  upon  the  ground  that 
"several  of  the  representatives  from  the  different  quarters 
"were  members  of  the  Standing  Committee,  already  impli- 
cated in  the  separation  within  their  limits,  and  in  the  sup- 
"  port  of  the  unsound  doctrines  and  disorderly  practices  be- 
"  fore  alluded  to  ;  and  moreover,  that  unfair  and  proscriptive 
"  measures  had  been  resorted  to  in  the  appointment  of  some 
"of  the  representatives,  with  a  special  view  to  the  existing 
"controversy  among  us.  In  one  Quarterly  Meeting  all  who 
"  were  suspected  of  being  opposed  to  the  previous  proceedings 
"  within  this  Yearly  Meeting,  were  excluded  from  appoint- 
"  nient  as  representatives,  and  the  members  of  one  Monthly 
"Meeting  belonging  to  that  quarter  were  wholly  excluded, 
"  both  from  being  appointed,  and  from  nominating  others  for 
"  representatives.  At  another  Quarterly  Meeting,  members 
"of  the  Standing  Committee  attended,  and  advised  against 

*  Iu  these  quotations,  where  "the  representatives  from  Rhode  Island  Quar- 
terly Meeting"  are  spoken  of,  allusion  is  of  course  made  to  that  Quarterly 
Meeting  which  the  leaders  of  the  Yearly  Meeting  in  these  transactions  were 
endeavoring  to  scatter  and  divide. 


84 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN      [CHAP.  IX. 


"  the  appointment  of  such  as  had  not  unity  with  their  pro- 
"  ceedings. 

"  The  repeated  and  fruitless  efforts  heretofore  made  to  ob- 
"  tain  justice  through  the  intervention  of  committees  of  the 
"  Yearly  Meeting  were  fully  brought  to  view.  Allusion  was 
"also  made  to  the  evidence  abundantly  afforded,  that  such 
"committees,  appointed  in  the  partial  and  unfair  manner 
"  they  ever  have  been,  in  cases  involving  the  conduct  of  the 
"  Standing  Committee,  are  always  greatly  under  the  control  of 
"a  few  influential  individuals,  mostl}'  members  of  that  com- 
"  mittee.  And  it  was  further  declared  that  the  sufferings  of 
"  faithful  Friends,  in  their  endeavors  to  stand  for  the  precious 
"cause  of  truth,  were  mainly  to  be  attributed  to  the  pro- 
ceedings of  that  committee,  and  that  the  sad  difficulties  by 
"  which  this  Yearly  Meeting  is  now  encompassed,  lie  at  their 
"door.  The  representatives  from  Rhode  Island  Quarterly 
"  Meeting  proposed  that  the  matter  should  be  investigated 
"  and  decided  by  the  Yearly  Meeting,  without  reference  to  a 
"  committee,  that  all  might  have  a  fair  opportunity  to  hear 
"  and  judge  for  themselves  * 

"There  was  much  expression  in  favor  of  this  proposal  by 
"  Friends  from  different  Quarterly  Meetings  ;  but  many  con- 
"  tinned  to  urge  the  reference  to  the  representatives.  Those 
"  from  Rhode  Island  informed  the  Yearly  Meeting  that  they 
"  could  not  consent  to  such  a  disposition  of  the  case,  for  the 
"  reasons  which  had  been  given.  The  clerk,  notwithstand- 
ing, made  a  minute  giving  it  that  direction."  .... 

"It  was  now  proposed  by  Abraham  Shearman,  Jr.,  the 
"acting  clerk,  to  suspend  that  rule  of  our  Discipline  which 
"requires  'the  representatives  to  meet  at  the  conclusion  of  the 
"l  sitting  on  Second-day  morning,  and  agree  upon  a  clerk  for 
"'  the  year,  and  report  the  same  to  the  adjournment.'  A 
"  minute  was  made  to  this  effect,  although  objected  to  on  the 
"  part  of  the  representatives  from  Rhode  Island  ;  and  no  time 
"being  specified,  it  was  thus  left  in  the  discretion  of  the  rep- 

*  This  would  have  been  in  accordance  with  the  practice  during  the  past  forty 
years  in  London  Yearly  Meeting,  of  hearing  appeals  in  reference  to  faith  and 
doctrine  in  the  Yearly  Meeting  at  large.   See  Vol.  I,  p.  52. 


1845.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


85 


"  resentatives,  when  they  would  attend  to  the  service.  The 
"  meeting  soon  after  adjourned  to  the  fourth  hour  on  Second- 
"  day,  afternoon. 

"Previous  to  the  adjournment,  one  of  the  representatives 
"from  Rhode  Island  distinctly  proposed  and  requested  that 
"  Friends  of  that  Quarterly  Meeting,  and  such  others  as  might 
"  be  disposed  to  join  them  therein,  should  take  a  solid  oppor- 
"  tunity  of  conferring  together  in  that  house,  at  the  conclusion 
"  of  that  sitting,  in  order  that  they  (the  representatives)  might 
"be  further  ascertained  of  the  sense  and  judgment  of  Friends, 
"  whether  they  should  appear  before  the  representatives  from 
"  the  different  Quarterly  Meetings,  and  defend  the  case  which 
"had  been  referred  to  them  in  the  manner  above  stated  ;  and 
"if  not,  to  endeavor  to  see  what  steps  it  might  seem  proper 
"in  the  wisdom  of  truth  for  them  to  take  under  this  very  pe- 
culiar and  trying  state  of  things.  This  request  was  ex- 
"  tended  to  all  who  desired  to  maintain  the  ancient  principles 
"  of  Friends,  and  that  the  Yearly  Meeting  should  be  sustained 
"and  held  upon  its  original  foundation.  No  objection  was 
"made  to  it,  but  the  clerk  said  the  representatives  would  meet 
"  in  that  room,  on  the  case  referred  to  them  from  Rhode  Isl- 
"and;  whereupon  another  of  that  party,  who  afterward 
"seceded,  signified  that  we  might  meet  in  the  committee 
"  room.  At  the  conclusion,  many  Friends  accordingly  re- 
"  mained  in  the  house,  but  finding  it  impossible  to  confer 
"together  there  freely  and  without  interruption  from  others, 
"  thejr  agreed  upon  another  time  and  place  of  meeting,  and 
"then  quietly  withdrew. 

"Friends  were  introduced  into  deep  exercise  and  travail  of 
"spirit,  wherein  living  desires  were  raised  in  the  breasts  of 
"  many  for  best  help  and  direction  ;  and  when  they  again  as- 
sembled, free  from  interruption,  under  an  awful  sense  of  the 
"  importance  of  moving  onl}-  in  the  line  of  divine  appointment, 
"  they  were  united  in  judgment  that  it  would  not  be  right  to 
"appear  with  their  case  before  the  representatives  who  were 
"  then  sitting  in  our  meeting-house,  and  who  were  immedi- 
"ately  informed  of  this  conclusion.  It  was  also  the  united 
"sense  and  judgment  of  Friends,  that  in  order  to  sustain  the 


86 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN      [CHAP.  IX. 


"Yearly  Meeting  in  conformity  with  its  long-established  Dis- 
cipline, and  upon  its  original  ground,  with  the  ancient  doc- 
"  trines  and  testimonies  of  the  Society  unimpaired,  it  was  in- 
"  dispensable  that  the  representatives  should  meet,  and  agree 
"  upon  and  propose  a  clerk  to  the  next  sitting,  as  by  Disci- 
"  pline  and  former  usage  is  required. 

"The  Yearly  Meeting  having  again  convened  in  the  after- 
"noon,  soon  after  the  opening  minute  was  read,  Prince 
"Gardner  [of  Nantucket]  on  behalf  of  the  Representatives 
"  who  met  on  clerks  (which  included  all  those  from  Rhode 
"  Island  [Smaller  Body],  and  some  from  Sandwich  Quarterly 
"Meetings),  reported  that  they  were  united  in  proposing  the 
"  names  of  Thomas  B.  Gould  for  clerk,  and  Charles  Perry  for 
"  assistant  clerk,  for  the  ensuing  year.  This  proposal  was 
"  united  with  by  many,  but  a  large  number  opposed  it,  and 
"the  former  clerks  continued  to  sit  at  the  table.  Whereupon, 
"  those  agreed  to  and  proposed  by  the  representatives,  were 
"requested  to  take  their  seats  at  a  table  in  a  part  of  the  house 
"  where  most  of  the  Friends  who  had  united  in  their  appoint- 
"  ment  were  sitting.*  After  making  a  minute  of  the  appoint- 
"ment  of  clerks,  etc.,  the  names  of  the  representatives  from 
"  Rhode  Island  Quarterly  Meeting  of  Friends  were  called,  and 
"  all  responded  thereto.  The  clerk  then  proceeded  to  read  the 
"  report  from  that  meeting,  in  which  he  was  greatly  inter- 
"  rupted  by  many  in  different  parts  of  the  house.  Abraham 
"  Shearman,  Jr.  (the  former  clerk),  left  his  seat,  and  passing 
"  along  the  ministers'  gallery  towards  that  part  of  it  where  the 
"  clerk  was  standing,  called  upon  him  to  desist ;  hut  after  a  short 
"  pause,  the  reading  was  calmly  proceeded  in  until  finished. 
"  After  appointing  a  committee  to  prepare  and  produce  to  a 
"  future  sitting  a  more  extended  minute,  to  be  entered  on  our 
"  records,  embracing  the  very  trying  circumstances  in  which 
"  we  were  placed,  with  the  ground  and  cause  thereof,  it  did  not 
■■'appear  proper,  on  account  of  the  great  interruption  Friends 

*  This  was  a  part  of  the  meeting-house,  at  one  side  of  the  portion  occupied  by 
the  bulk  of  the  assembly,  and  capable  of  being  divided  from  it  by  a  sliding  par- 
tition ;  which,  however,  was  at  this  time  left  open. 


1845.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


87 


"  met  with,  to  introduce  any  further  business  at  that  sitting. 
"  The  Yearly  Meeting  concluded  to  adjourn ,  to  meet  on  Third- 
"  day  morning  at  the  tenth  hour  ;  of  which  the  women's  meet- 
"  ing  was  informed,  and  adjourned  accordingly.  This  fact 
"  being  reported  to  the  separate  meeting  hy  their  messengers, 
"  they  adjourned  to  meet  at  the  name  place,  at  the  ninth  hour. 

"  Among  other  interruptions  during  this  sitting,  Abraham 
"  Shearman,  Jr.,  called  upon  the  representatives, except  those 
"from  Rhode  Island,  to  express  their  dissent  from  the  appoint- 
"  ment  of  clerks  ;  which  was  done  by  thirty-eight  of  them  ;* 
"four  were  in  unity  with  the  appointment,  and  three  were 
"absent."  .... 

"Friends  assembled  on  Third-day  morning,  and  found  our 
"meeting-house  already  occupied  by  the  separate  meeting. 
"  Whereupon,  the  Yearly  Meeting  gathered  and  was  opened 
"  in  the  yard  ;  the  men's  meeting  near  one  end  of  the  house,  and 
"  the  women's  at  the  other.  Each  meeting  appointed  a  com- 
"  mittee  to  apply  to  those  in  the  house  for  the  vacation  of  the 
"  clerks'  tables,  for  the  use  of  the  Yearly  Meeting  and  its 
"clerks,  and  also  for  the  transfer  of  the  books  and  papers 
"thereof;  which  application  having  been  made,  and  uncon- 
"ditionally  refused,  we  were  deprived  of  the  reports  from  all 
"  our  Quarterly  Meetings  except  Rhode  Island.  One  repre- 
sentative from  Salem,  and  three  from  Sandwich  Quarterly 
"  Meetings,  uniting  with  us,  were  recognized  as  such  by  the 
"  meeting  ;  which,  with  those  from  Rhode  Island,  make  thir- 
"  teen  representatives  to  the  men's  meeting,  who  have  re- 
"  mained  with  Friends. 

"After  being  thus  obliged  to  hold  our  meeting,  both  of  men 
"  and  women  Friends,  standing  in  the  open  air  for  nearly  two 
"  hours,  it  was  concluded  to  adjourn  the  Yearly  Meeting  to  the 
"  Baptist  meeting-house  in  Clarke  Street,  which  was  kindly 
"opened  for  that  purpose.  Friends  having  removed  from  our 
"  meeting-house  yard  in  a  body,  convened  again  immediately  at 
"  the  place  proposed  ;  and  sitting  for  a  time  together,  our  hearts 

*  The  "  Narrative  "  of  the  (iurney  i>arty  says  "  forty-one" — perhaps  inadvert- 
ently including  the  absentees. 


88 


THE  SOCIETY  OP  FRIENDS  IK      [CHAP.  IX. 


were  tendered  and  united  under  the  cementing  influence  of  the 
Great  Head  of  the  church  ;  who,  as  we  feel  bound  reverently 
to  acknowledge,  has  been  pleased,  in  his  unmerited  mercy,  and 
in  a  remarkable  manner,  to  own  us  in  the  way  which  we  go, 
to  manifest  himself  among  us  by  his  Spirit,  to  uphold  and  pre- 
serve by  his  power,  amid  the  varied  conflicts  which  we  have 
had  to  pass  through  for  his  great  name's  sake.  Under  feel- 
ings of  deep  sorrow  and  concern  for  those  who  have  been 
drawn  aside  from  the  Truth,  and  of  thankfulness  to  the 
Lord  our  preserver,  such  was  the  solemnity  and  the  precious- 
ness  of  the  covering  which  in  adorable  mercy  was  spread 
over  us,  that  it  was  concluded  to  adjourn  without  introduc- 
ing any  business  at  that  time. 

"  The  subsequent  sittings  of  the  Yearly  Meeting  have  been 
regularly  held  at  the  same  place  ;  and  although  greatly  re- 
duced in  numbers,  Friends  have  been  mercifully  favored 
during  these  several  sittings,  to  experience  renewed  and 
abundant  evidence,  that  he  who  leadeth  the  blind  by  a  way 
which  they  know  not,  and  in  paths  which  they  have  not 
seen,  is  not  unmindful  of  his  people  ;  and  that  while,  in  the 
counsels  of  his  own  will,  he  hath  permitted  them  to  be  thus 
sifted  and  very  closely  tried,  yet  that  he  will,  in  his  own 
good  time,  gather  the  outcasts  of  Israel,  and  the  dispersed 
of  Judah,  raising  up  judges  as  at  the  first,  and  counsellors 
as  at  the  beginning,  who  shall  not  err  in  vision  or  stumble 
in  judgment,  but  who  shall  be  enabled,  by  his  holy  help,  to 
lay  judgment  to  the  line,  and  righteousness  to  the  plummet. 
For  Zion  was  to  be  redeemed  through  judgment,  and  her 
converts  with  righteousness  ;  and  we  are  persuaded  that  he 
who  rcigneth  King  in  the  midst  of  Zion,  will  verify  his  an- 
cient promise,  '  I  will  restore  health  unto  thee,  and  I  will 
'  heal  thee  of  thy  wounds,  saith  the  Lord,  because  they  called 
'  thee  an  outcast,  saying,  this  is  Zion,  whom  no  man  seeketh 
'  after. '  '  Behold,  I  will  bring  again  the  captivity  of  Jacob's 
'tents,  and  have  mercy  on  his  dwelling-places;  and  the  city 
'  shall  be  builded  upon  her  own  heap,  and  the  palace  shall 
'  remain  after  the  manner  thereof.  And  out  of  them  shall 
'  proceed  thanksgiving,  and  the  voice  of  them  that  make 


J  845.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


89 


"  'merry  :  and  I  will  multiply  them,  and  they  shall  not  he  few  ; 
" '  I  will  also  glorify  them,  and  they  shall  not  be  small.  Their 
'"children  also  shall  lie  as  aforetime,  and  their  congregation 
"  '  shall  be  established  before  me,  and  I  will  punish  all  that  op- 
"  'press  them.'  "  .  .  .  . 

"The  sad  consequences  which  have  necessarily  followed 
"such  a  departure  from  sound  principles  and  a  wholesome  dis- 
' '  cipline,  on  the  part  of  the  '  leaders  of  the  people, '  through  their 
"  assuming,  and  until  the  present  time,  retaining  aixarbitrary 
"and  controlling  influence  in  the  transaction  of  the  affairs  of 
"  the  church  in  this  Yearly  Meeting,  have  been  made  sorrow- 
"  fully  apparent.  It  is  equally  clear  and  undeniable  that  those 
"  who  maintain  their  integrity  and  allegiance  to  the  sound 
"  principles,  Christian  doctrines,  and  long-established  disci- 
"  pline  of  our  religious  Society,  as  originally  held  and  supported 
"  by  the  first  Friends,  are  the  Society,  whether  it  be  composed 
"of  less  or  more  numbers.  Neither  can  the  highest  prbfes- 
"  sums  of  an  adherence  to  first  principles  be  availing  to  those 
"who  have  so  departed,  until  the  offences  which  they  have 
"committed,  by  introducing,  supporting,  and  defending  such 
"  adverse  principles,  be  done  away,  and  their  undisciplinary 
"proceedings  and  oppressive  acts  reversed.  We  say,  that 
"until  such  have  manifested  a  sincere  repentance,  by  fruits 
"  meet  for  the  same,  they  must  and  will  be  accounted  as  Sepa- 
ratists from  the  true  body  and  Society  of  Friends."*  .... 

Tlie  representatives  of  the  Gurney  party  meantime 
met  according  to  their  instructions,  and  agreed  to  report 
in  favor  of  acknowledging  those  appointed  as  represen- 
tatives by  the  separate  Quarterly  Meeting  of  Rhode 
Island,  which,  as  we  have  seen,  was  identified  with  the 
schismatic  and  disorderly  Monthly  Meeting  of  Swanzey. 
Their  Yearly  Meeting  united  with  their  report,  and  rec- 
ognized those  representatives,  to  the  exclusion  of  the 

*  Epistolary  Declaration  and  Testimony  of  the  Yearly  Meeting  of  Friends  for 
New  England,  1845,  page  8  to  18. 


90 


THE  SOCIETY  OP  FUIENDS  IN      [CHAP.  IX. 


friends  of  sound  doctrine  and  discipline;  and  thus  iden- 
tified themselves  with  the  irregular  and  despotic  acts 
which  have  been  narrated,  and  with  the  unsound  doc- 
trines which  those  transactions  went  to  fasten  upon  the 
Society. 

This  "Larger  Body"  of  the  Yearly  Meeting,  which, 
under  a  blind  confidence  in  its  leading  men,  had  now 
launched  headlong  into  schism,  put  forth  a  statement 
containing  their  own  version  of  what  had  occurred 
among  them,  entitled  a  "  Narrative  of  Facts  and  Cir- 
cumstances that  have  tended  to  produce  a  Separation 
from  the  Society  of  Friends  in  New  England  Yearly 
Meeting."  The  same  circumstances  that  have  been  here 
related  were  gone  over  therein,  with  their  own  interpre- 
tations and  assertions  of  intents  and  purposes,  thus  dif- 
fering mainly  from  the  statement  of  the  "  Smaller  Body  " 
by  covering  up  the  matter  of  doctrines,  and  attributing  all 
to  a  spirit  of  insubordination  and  detraction,  under  which, 
as  they  alleged,  their  own  characters  had  been  defamed 
as  supporters  of  unsound  doctrines.  This  allegation  of 
a  spirit  of  detraction  and  defamation,  if  true,  would  at 
once  have  been  sufficient  to  condemn  the  party  who 
would  persist  in  measures  having  so  guilty  a  foundation  ; 
and  the  leaders  of  the  Gurney  party  doubtless  hoped 
that  their  official  and  confident  assertion  of  the  fact 
would  lead  to  its  being  taken  for  granted  that  it  was  so. 
For  they  uniformly  and  most  carefully  avoided  to  touch 
the  question  on  which  they  admitted  themselves  accused, 
or  to  admit  of  its  being  investigated,  by  searching  into 
those  doctrines,  and  showing  that  they  did  not  counte- 
nance them.  They  knew  that,  if  brought  to  the  point, 
they  could  not  clear  themselves;  therefore  they  refused 


1845.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


91 


to  listen,  and  stood  on  their  bare  assertion,  that  the  ac- 
cusation -was  defamation,  and  brought  in  a  spirit  of  de- 
traction. Most  honest  men,  when  accused  of  holding 
or  promoting  dangerous  doctrines,  would  demand  to  be 
informed,  what  doctrines,  and  in  what  manner  they  had 
evinced  any  adhesion  to  them.  But  these  men,  while 
avowing  that  the  accusation  was  brought  against  them, 
would  never  in  any  instance  listen  to  the  specification 
(often  pressed  upon  them),  or  be  candid  enough  to  face 
the  charge,  but  flinched  and  walked  away  as  soon  as  it 
was  attempted. 

The  oft-reiterated  plea  of  the  leaders  in  these  transac- 
tions, that  "  doctrines  were  not  involved  in  the  case," 
was  manifestly  false  and  unjust.  Indeed,  as  sane  men, 
they  must  have  known  that  it  was  false.  For  John  Wil- 
bur's course  in  the  matter  was,  from  beginning  to  end, 
founded  solely  upon  the  unsoundness  and  dangerous  ten- 
dency of  J.  J.  Gurney's  doctrines,  as  he  often  testified  to 
them,  and  offered  to  prove  by  the  clearest  evidence. 
And  it  is  well  known  that  they  always  refused  to  listen 
to  his  evidence  of  it,  in  order  to  shut  it  out  from  their 
transactions.  But  some,  at  least,  of  their  number  knew 
already,  or  had  known,  that  these  doctrines  were  at  va- 
riance with  the  doctrines  of  Quakerism,  and  in  their 
better  days  had  openly  testified  against  them  on  that 
ground ! 

It  is  true,  they  issued,  along  with  the  above-mentioned 
"Narrative  of  Facts  and  Circumstances,"  a  "Declara- 
tion on  various  Christian  Doctrines,"  with  solemn  prot- 
estations of  its  "embracing  the  doctrines  of  the  gospel,  as 
they  ever  have  been  and  are  now  most  assuredly  believed 
by  the  Society  of  Friends,"  and  that  it  "  was  fully  united 


92 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN      [CHAP.  IX. 


with  and  adopted  by  the  meeting,  and  declared  to  be  its 
Faith  upon  the  .subjects  on  which  it  treats."  But  what 
are  the  subjects  on  which  it  treats?  Does  it  go  into  the 
matter  of  which  they  had  been  accused,  and  sift  it  to  the 
bottom,  as  honest  men  would  have  done — even  that  cer- 
tain very  important  departures  from  our  ancient  faith 
had  received  encouragement  at  their  hands,  by  the  meas- 
ures in  which  they  had  for  years  persisted?  Not  at  all. 
It  is  mainly  composed  of  quotations  from  Robert  Bar- 
clay, George  Fox,  and  Joseph  Phipps,  and  from  the 
"Testimony  of  the  Society  of  Friends  in  America," 
which  was  issued  in  1830  against  the  doctrines  of  Elias 
Hicks  and  his  adherents,  and  signed  by  Elisha  Bates, 
as  clerk  of  the  joint  committee  who  prepared  it.  These 
quotations  are  good  and  sound,  as  far  as  they  go  on  the 
subjects  selected ;  but  as  a  whole  they  appear  quite  as 
well  adapted  to  prove  that  they  were  not  Hicksites,  as 
for  any  other  purpose,  if  not  rather  more  so.  Some  of 
the  quotations  are  on  topics  concerning  which  J.  J.  Gur- 
ney  was  never  charged  with  diverging  from  the  doctrines 
of  the  Society.  Others  contain  sentiments  which,  on 
comparison,  would  be  found  at  variance  with  those  of 
J.  J.  Gurney;  but  the  writers  of  the  Declaration  seem 
to  have  been  unaware  that  they  were  thereby  proving 
their  own  inconsistency,  in  having  so  strenuously  sup- 
ported this  author,  as  to  have  recklessly  torn  the  Society 
to  pieces  in  his  defence. 

Even  if  this  Declai-ation  of  Faith,  as  a  whole,  could 
be  said  to  be  an  antidote  to  the  doctrines  of  J.  J.  Gurney, 
or  a  disavowal  of  them,  which  can  by  no  means  be  can- 
didly said  of  it,  it  would  go  no  further  to  exonerate  the 
party  issuing  it,  from  responsibility  for  the  sorrowful 


1845.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


93 


nature  and  consequences  of  their  late  transactions,  than 
the  high-sounding  professions  made  by  the  Council  of 
Constance,  of  being  assembled  and  governed  by  "  the 
influence  of  the  Holy  Spirit,"  of  being  "convoked  with 
the  inspiration  of  God,"  and  of  "  having  God  alone 
before  their  eyes,"*  could  exonerate  those  "holy  fathers," 
as  they  called  themselves,  from  the  guilt  incurred  by 
their  sacrifice  of  that  eminent  martyr,  John  Huss,  when 
they  so  solemnly  and  sanctimoniously  delivered  him  up 
to  the  secular  arm  for  consignment  to  the  flames. 

But,  as  said  above,  it  cannot  be  sustained,  that  this 
Declaration  covers  the  ground,  by  any  means  satisfac- 
torily, of  the  allegations  of  unsoundness  against  J.  J. 
Gurney  and  those  who  persisted  in  supporting  him.  We 
must  bear  in  mind,  that  while  the  tenor  of  J.  J.  Gurney's 
system,  as  a  whole,  was  to  subvert  true  Quakerism,  yet 
his  mode  of  procedure  was  to  undermine  it  by  grada- 
tions not  easily  perceived  by  those  who  did  not  look 
deeper  than  the  surface  of  things,  rather  than  to  alarm 
by  a  direct  attack.  He  professed,  and  doubtless  felt,  an 
attachment  to  what  he  considered  the  proper  doctrines  of 
the  Society ;  modifying  and  superseding  some  of  the  most 
characteristic  and  fundamental  by  representations  of  his 
own,  according  to  what  he  thought  they  ought  to  he  ;  pro- 
fessing at  the  same  time  great  esteem  for  early  Friends, 
while  thus  superseding  the  cherished  products  of  their 
convictions. 

Several  of  their  quotations  from  Barclay  are  not  by 
any  means  verbally  correct,  and  one  concluding  at  the 
top  of  page  15  is  quite  imperfect,  the  sentence  not  being 

*  "The  Lives,  Sentiments,  and  Sufferings  of  some  Reformers  before  and  after 
Luther;"  by  W.  Hodgson,  Philadelphia,  1867,  p.  160. 


94 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN      [CHAP.  IX. 


completed.  On  comparison  with  the  passage  in  the 
"Apology"  (Prop,  iii,  Sec.  ii),  it  appears  that  where 
Barclay  has  put  a  semicolon,  they  have  put  a  period, 
concluding  without  completing  the  sense  !  Barclay  says, 
"  Though  then  we  do  acknowledge"  etc.,  .  .  .  (as  quoted 
by  them);  "yet  we  may  not  call  them  [the  Scriptures] 
the  principal  fountain  of  all  truth  and  knowledge,  nor 
yet  the  first  adequate  rule  of  faith  and  manners ;  because 
the  principal  fountain  of  truth  must  be  the  truth  itself ; 
i.  e.,  that  whose  certainty  and  authority  depends  not  upon 
another."  Perhaps  they  may  have  thought  that  the 
latter  part  of  the  sentence  (beginning  at  "yet")  was  not 
particularly  convenient  to  the  object  they  had  in  view ; 
but  their  leaving  off  thus  in  the  middle  of  such  a  sen- 
tence, at  least  renders  their  candor  liable  to  be  called  in 
question. 

Their  "  Declaration "  opens  with  the  expression  of 
earnest  desires  that  love  and  charity  may  prevail  among 
the  members ;  deplores  the  uncharitable  accusations  of  a 
dividing  spirit,  by  which  they  had  been  assailed,  and 
which  had  filled  them  with  astonishment  and  sorrow; 
and  exhorts  all  to  "  that  fervent  charity  which  suffereth 
long  and  is  kind!"  And  they  conclude  with  the  asser- 
tion,— "  We  entirely  disclaim,  and  have  invariably  dis- 
claimed all  views  and  doctrines  inconsistent  therewith  " 
[this  Declaration  of  Faith],  "  from  whatever  source  they 
may  come,  or  by  whomsoever  they  may  be  promulgated ;" 
....  "nor  do  we  countenance  the  receiving  of  any  sen- 
timents which  are  at  variance  with  those  contained  in  our 
approved  writers."  *    We  might  suppose  that  the  writers 

*  "  Declaration  on  Various  Christian  Doctrines;"  by  the  Larger  Body  of  New- 
England,  p.  22. 


1845.]  THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY.  95 


of  this  passage  believed  that  their  deeds  for  the  past  five 
years  had  all  been  buried  in  oblivion,  when  they  had 
the  boldness  to  present  such  an  assertion  to  be  sanctioned 
by  the  Yearly  Meeting!  Surely  none  could  believe  it 
to  be  true,  but  those  who  knew  nothing  of  the  nature  of 
what  had  been  passing,  or  who  did  not  comprehend  the 
meaning  of  such  assertions,  or  who  had  given  themselves 
up  implicitly  to  the  fascination  and  bondage  of  party 
spirit. 

Yet  by  the  mass  of  the  members  composing  the  assem- 
bly which  issued  this  Declaration  of  Faith,  it  was  doubt- 
less considered  to  be  a  true  statement  of  the  doctrines 
still  sustained  by  those  who  controlled  their  affairs.  A 
large  proportion  of  them  still  believed,  or  rather  did  not 
disbelieve,  in  the  ancient  tenets  of  the  Society ;  but  they 
had  been  so  long  accustomed  to  look  with  unlimited  con- 
fidence to  the  members  of  the  Meeting  for  Sufferings 
and  the  Yearly  Meeting's  Standing  Committee,  and 
their  habitual  instruments,  who  together  had  been  the 
main  promoters  of  the  late  extraordinary  measures,  that 
they  scarcely  permitted  themselves  seriously  to  question 
the  rectitude  of  anything  whatever  proposed  by  them. 
And  as  the  quotations  were  principally  from  the  writings 
of  early  Friends,  they  took  it,  of  course,  for  granted, 
that  they  were  not  only  correct  in  themselves,  which 
they  probably  were,  in  substance,  so  far  as  they  went ;  but 
that  they  were  also  adequate  to  the  point  desired,  which 
they  certainly  were  not ;  unless  indeed  that  desired  point 
were  to  show,  that  while  theoretically  acknowledging 
one  system  of  doctrines  for  effect  in  the  Yearly  Meeting, 
this  combination  of  its  functionaries  could  for  years,  in 
practice,  uphold  and  promote,  even  to  the  tearing  asunder 


96 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN      [CHAP.  IX. 


of  the  body,  what  was  fundamentally  and  diametrically 
opposite. 

The  next  year,  1846,  saw  a  similar  attempt,  on  the 
part  of  J.  J.  Grurney  himself,  to  make  an  appearance  of 
being  sound  in  the  doctrines  of  Friends.  He  also  put 
forth  a  Declaration  of  Faith,*  to  suit  a  particular  legal 
occasion  coming  on  in  New  England  ;  which  he  affirmed 
before  the  Mayor  of  Norwich  and  two  justices  of  the 
peace,  and  then  sent  it  over  to  America.  It  embraced 
several  subjects,  couched  in  very  general  terms,  which 
did  not  meet  the  points  at  issue ;  was  altogether  silent 
on  a  number  of  others  in  which  his  writings  had  been 
proved  to  conflict  with  the  views  of  early  Friends ;  and 
on  some  the  observations  made  were  even  confirmatory 
of  the  charges  of  divergence. 

There  were  in  it  six  distinct  topics,  viz. :  1.  On  the 
Holy  Scriptures  ;  2.  Immediate  and  perceptible  guidance 
of  the  Holy  Spirit;  3.  Justification;  4.  The  "Trinity;" 
5.  The  resurrection  ;  6.  The  Sabbath. 

In  speaking  of  the  Holy  Scriptures,  he  quoted  with 
approbation  the  unsound  paragraph  inserted  at  his  own 
instigation  in  the  London  General  Epistle  of  1836,  re- 
specting their  being  "the  appointed  means,"  etc.,  which 
of  itself  evinced  that  he  was  in  opposition  to  ancient 
Friends.  Respecting  "  the  Trinity,"  he  said  that  he  had 
never  thought  it  right  to  make  use  of  that  term ;  but  he 
did  not  say  how  many  times  he  had  used  terms  on  that 
subject  equally  if  not  more  objectionable,  such  as  "Plu- 


*  This  proceeding  may  remind  the  reader,  of  a  similar  action  of  E.  Hicks,  in 
1829,  in  w  riting  a  letter  to  Hugh  Judge,  containing  answers  to  six  queries  re- 
specting his  doctrines.   See  Vol.  I,  p.  197. 


1846.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


97 


rality  in  Unity,"  "Plurality  in  Essence,"  "Personality 
of  the  Father,  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Spirit." 

There  is  a  curious  coincidence  between  this  Declaration 
and  that  put  forth  by  the  Larger  Body  of  New  Eng- 
land which  we  have  just  been  considering  ;  that  while 
they  stop  at  a  semicolon  in  quoting  from  Robert  Bar- 
clay, he  stops  at  a  semicolon  in  quoting  from  Edward 
Burrough — both,  apparently,  to  avoid  a  fatal  plunge 
into  self-contradiction.*  In  the  latter  case,  the  part 
thus  omitted  was  doubtless  felt  to  be  incompatible  with 
his  known  objection  to  the  doctrine  of  "Christ  within, 
the  hope  of  glory."  His  purpose  in  quoting  E.  Bur- 
rough  was  to  attempt  to  show  that  he  united  with  him 
in  a  certain  passage  respecting  justification;  but,  stop- 
ping at  the  semicolon,  he  left  out  an  important  part  of 
E.  Burrough's  declaration,  viz. :  "  which  faith  hath  re- 
ceived Christ  to  dwell  in  us."  He  omitted,  also,  any 
allusion  to  E.  Burrough's  declaration  in  the  same  trea- 
tise, that  none  can  be  justified  by  Christ's  death,  "but 
who  witness  Christ  within  them  ; "  "  that  have  not  Christ 
in  them." 

In  short,  in  no  single  point  does  this  Declaration  de- 
fend him  from  the  alleged  discrepancies  between  his 
published  sentiments  and  those  of  true  Friends.  On 
several  subjects,  such  as  Faith,  Original  Sin,  the  Body 
and  Blood  of  Christ,  Prayer,  and  "  the  Gospel,"  it  is 
almost  entirely  silent ;  as  well  as  on  the  various  points 
on  which,  in  his  "  Brief  Remarks,"  he  accused  our  early 

*  Not  but  that  any  one  may  stop,  if  he  pleases,  at  a  semicolon,  or  at  a  comma, 
or  even  without  one,  if  he  lias  got  what  he  wanted  ;  hnt  if  he  leaves  out  a  part  of 
a  sentence  especially  essential  to  represent  his  author  fairly,  he  lays  himself 
open  to  a  question  as  to  his  reason  or  motive  for  rejecting  the  context. 
VOL.  II. — !) 


98 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN      [CHAP.  IX. 


and  most  cherished  writers  of  "serious  mistakes."  But 
as  I  have  elsewhere*  treated  somewhat  more  largely  on 
the  fallacy  of  this  Declaration  of  Faith,  it  is  only 
needful  here  thus  briefly  to  refer  to  it. 

Some  extracts  from  a  letter,  said  to  have  been  written 
by  J.  J.  Gurney,  were  published  in  the  "  Friend's  Re- 
view," of  first  month  20th,  1872,  which  were  evidently 
brought  forward  in  order  to  prove  his  soundness  on  cer- 
tain points  of  doctrine.  There  is  no  date  given  to  this 
letter,  nor  any  information  to  whom  it  was  addressed,  or 
under  what  circumstances  it  was  written.  It  cannot  be 
denied  that  it  contains  sound  doctrine,  and  was  probably 
written  for  the  same  purpose  as  the  "Declaration"  above 
mentioned;  and  if  the  writer  had  confined  himself 
within  these  views,  much  harm  would  have  been  spared 
to  the  Society.  It  should  be  recollected  that  the  oppo- 
nents of  J.  J.  Gurney's  unsound  views  never  denied  that 
he  had  written  much  that  was  verbally  sound ;  but  their 
objections  were  aimed  at  very  prominent,  fundamental, 
and  dangerous  errors,  new  among  Friends,  appearing 
in  many  thousand  copies  of  his  books,  and  which  he 
never  would  retract  or  condemn.  So  did  Elias  Hicks 
at  times  preach  apparently  sound  doctrine ;  yet  he  too 
never  would  condemn  or  retract  the  unsound,  which, 
alas,  was  prominent  in  poisoning  the  minds  of  the  people. 

The  two  Declarations  of  Faith  above  alluded  to  were 
used  (and  probably  drawn  up  with  that  special  intent)  as 
evidence  in  a  suit  before  the  Supreme  Judicial  Court 
for  the  counties  of  Bristol,  Plymouth,  etc.,  sitting  at 
Plymouth,  Mass.,  being  a  suit  in  equity,  brought  by 


*  Examination  of  tbe  Memoirs  and  Wriliugj  of  J.  J.  Gutney,  page  129,  etc. 


1846.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


99 


Earle  and  others,  plaintiffs,  in  behalf  of  the  Gurney 
party,  against  Wood  and  others,  defendants,  on  behalf 
of  Friends  of  the  "Smaller  Body,"  for  possession  of  the 
mcetingdiouse  and  lot  of  ground  at  Fall  River,  belong- 
ing to  Swanzey  Monthly  Meeting;  the  Overseers  of  the 
meeting  being,  by  the  law  of  Massachusetts,  ex  officio 
trustees  of  the  property.  At  the  time  of  the  separation, 
Friends  had  possession  or  charge  of  the  premises  in 
question  ;  but  the  party  claiming  to  be  overseers  on  the 
part  of  the  Gurneyites  took  forcible  possession  of  the 
property  (as  the  Hicksites  had  done  before  in  Pennsyl- 
vania, etc.),  taking  off  the  locks  and  substituting  others. 
Not  desiring  to  be  involved  in  a  contest  of  this  sort, 
Friends  brought  an  action  at  law  in  the  first  place. 
Subsequently  Oliver  Earle  and  others  filed  a  bill  in 
equity,  as  plaintiffs,  in  the  Supreme  Court,  thus  super- 
seding the  action  at  law,  and  reversing  the  position  of 
the  parties. 

It  is  much  to  be  regretted  that  Friends  had  anything 
to  do  with  bringing  on  this  suit,  which,  as  usual,  al- 
though appearing  to  be  a  very  clear  case,  ended  in  no 
benefit  to  the  cause  of  Truth.  During  the  trial  it  was 
amply  testified  by  various  witnesses,*  that  novel  doc- 

*  The  evidence  on  the  part  of  the  defendants  was  afterwards  printed  in  an 
octavo  volume  of  pages,  entitled  "Depositions,  etc.,  Earle,  etc., v.  Wood,  etc., 
Supreme  Court  of  Massachusetts."  Boston,  T.  It.  Marvin,  1850.  The  writer  has 
not  succeeded  in  ascertaining  whether  the  evidence  on  behalf  of  the  plaintiffs 
was  ever  printed.  Owing  to  all  the  testimony  having  been  taken  by  way  of 
affidavit  at  the  homes  of  the  respective  witnesses,  the  case  is  by  no  means  so 
clearly  developed  as  it  might  have  been  by  viva  voce  examinations  in  open  court ; 
and  from  the  constant  repetition  of  the  same  points  by  nearly  all  the  witnesses 
in  reply  to  long  monotonous  lists  of  written  interrogatories,  the  perusal  is  ex- 
ceedingly dry  and  tedious,  and  it  would  not  be  surprising  if  this  were  one  cause 
of  the  Court  having  paid  so  little  attention  to  the  testimony.  The  case  appears 
to  have  suffered  from  ill  management  of  counsel,  as  well  as  carelessness  and  one- 
sidedness  of  the  Court. 


100 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FUIENDS  IN      [CHAP.  IX. 


trines,  contrary  to  the  faith  of  the  Society,  and  the  per- 
sistent efforts  to  sustain  them  and  their  main  author,  by 
arbitrarily  suppressing  all  opposition  to  them,  had  been 
the  basis  of  the  schism  ;  and  likewise  that  the  actual 
separation  had  been  brought  about  by  these  efforts  of 
the  advocates  of  J.  J.  Gurney,  in  an  irregular,  disor- 
derly, and  oppressive  series  of  transactions,  totally  unau- 
thorized by  the  Discipline  of  that  Yearly  Meeting,  or  of 
any  other.  These  circumstances  were  plainly  brought 
to  view  also  in  the  pleading  of  the  counsel  for  Friends. 
But  the  result  clearly  showed  the  unfitness  of  judicial 
tribunals  to  undertake  to  decide  momentous  religious 
questions,  or  to  say  which  of  two  opposing  bodies  is  the 
true  Society  of  Friends. 

The  case  was  delayed  for  a  considerable  time,  and  was 
at  length  decided  by  the  court  in  the  year  1852.  Judge 
Shaw,  who  pronounced  the  decision,  displayed  great  ig- 
norance (as  might  have  been  expected)  of  the  constitu- 
tion and  regulations  of  the  Society,  and  seemed  to 
flounder  about,  with  all  his  legal  learning,  like  a  man 
who  had  fallen  into  the  river,  and  scarcely  knew  how  to 
contrive  his  endeavors  so  as  to  be  sure  to  come  out  on 
one  particular  shore,  where  were  the  greatest  number  of 
spectators.  His  expressions  indicate  that  he  took  but 
little  pains  for  accuracy  of  statement  of  various  matters 
in  the  evidence,  and  that  he  took  many  things  for 
granted  not  at  all  warranted  by  the  principles  or  usages 
of  the  Society;  such  as  that  "  each  Yearly  Meeting  is  in- 
dependent of  all  others" — that  the  "Committee  of  Suf- 
ferings" has  "a  general  supervising  and  advisory  juris- 
diction " — that  "the  Yearly  Meeting  has  a  final  and 
controlling  jurisdiction  in  all  matters  of  faith  and  re- 


1852.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY". 


101 


ligious  duty" — "final  and  conclusive" — that  though 
the  Scriptures  are  believed  to  be  "the  unerring  guide  to 
Christian  truth,"  yet  that  "  new  truths  may  be  dis- 
covered "  from  them,  so  as  to  "  add  something  to  exist- 
ing faith  " — that  therefore  "  some  modification  of  their 
creed"  may  be  allowable,  if  only  it  is  united  in  by  the 
Yearly  Meeting,  whose  "decisions  are  final  and  infalli- 
ble, as  well  in  matters  of  faith  as  of  conduct" — display- 
ing herein  a  most  labored  attempt  to  claim  a  broad  lati- 
tude of  doctrine,  and  papal  infallibility,  for  the  Yearly 
Meetings  in  the  Society  of  Friends !  "  But,"  said  the 
judge,  with  wonderful  inattention  to  the  facts  and  bear- 
ing of  the  testimony,  "  we  have  no  evidence  that  any 
organized  meeting,  monthly,  quarterly,  or  yearly,  took 
any  step  as  a  body  to  promote  or  establish  any  opinion 
or  tenet  of  belief  not  entirely  correct!"  "The  charge 
on  the  part  of  J.  Wilbur  and  his  friends,"  of  promoting 
the  tenets  of  J.  J.  Gurney,  "they  denied,"  (as  if  their 
simple  denial  rebutted  all  the  evidence)  and  "a  Narra- 
tive and  Declaration  was  put  forth,  in  which  they  state 
their  belief  ....  satisfactory  to  those  who  affix  the 
imputation  of  heresy  to  that  same  meeting  !"  Where  he 
got  such  an  idea  as  that  it  was  "  satisfactory  "  to  these, 
does  not  appear,  and  is  merely  his  own  assertion. 

With  the  same  persistent  and  unwarrantable  onesided- 
ness,  the  judge  goes  on  to  give  the  reasons  inducing  the 
court  to  decide  that  the  Gurney  Monthly,  Quarterly, 
and  Yearly  Meetings  are  the  legitimate  meetings  of  the 
Society  and  entitled  to  the  property;  for  that  in  the 
Monthly  Meeting,  David  Shove,  "whether  regularly  or 
irregularly,  was  declared,  and  proceeded  to  act,  as  clerk," 
and  that  "  without  recapitulating  the  evidence,  which  is 


102 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRfENDS  IN      [CHAP.  IX. 


very  voluminous,  we  should  be  inclined  to  the  opinion" 
.  .  .  .  that  "Shove  must  be  taken  to  be  the  authorized 
clerk,"  etc. — in  other  words,  that  a  pretended  appoint- 
ment, "  whether  regular  or  irregular,"  is  to  be  sanctioned 
by  the  highest  judicial  tribunal  of  the  State  !  The  judge 
acknowledges  that  evidence  had  been  given  that  changes 
of  doctrine  were  complained  of  as  being  connected  with 
the  difficulty,  but  he  passes  over  them  very  lightly,  as 
scarcely  worthy  of  notice.  Throughout  the  document, 
the  reasoning  is  sophistical  and  exceedingly  superficial, 
giving  no  weight  to  the  evidence  or  arguments  of  the 
defendants,  and  showing  a  manifest  bias  to  the  majority, 
or  "the  Yearly  Meeting."  The  decision  concludes  thus: 
"  On  the  whole  case,  the  Court  are  of  the  opinion,  that 
the  plaintiffs  are  entitled  to  a  decree  for  the  establish- 
ment of  their  title  to  the  land  and  meeting-house,  as 
prayed  for  in  their  bill." 

After  the  publication  of  this  decision,  the  Meeting  for 
Sufferings  of  the  "Smaller  Body,"  believing  that  it  set 
forth  erroneous  positions  in  relation  to  the  internal 
polity  and  long-established  usages  and  principles  of  the 
Society,  published  "  A  Review  of  the  Opinion  of  the  Su- 
preme Judicial  Court  of  Massachusetts"  in  the  case,  in 
which  they  luminously  exposed  the  gross  errors  and 
mistakes  made  by  the  judge,  and  the  false  and  flimsy 
reasoning;  on  which  the  decision  was  founded.  The  im- 
portance  of  the  subject  as  a  matter  of  history  is  such,  that 
it  seems  best  to  introduce  here  a  few  detached  extracts 
from  this  review,  so  as  to  set  the  matter  in  its  true  light. 

"In  the  first  place  we  may  remark,  that  doctrines  grounded 
"upon  plain  Scripture  testimony,  as  are  those  of  the  Society 
"  of  Friends,  have  never  been  admitted  by  them  to  be  specAda- 


1852.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


103 


"tire,  a  term  which  implies  ideal,  theoretical  only,  not  prac- 
"  tical.  The  doctrines  of  the  Society  of  Friends  are  not  only 
"practical,  but  they  are  also  definite  and  tangible."  .... 
"  Whatever  degree  of  firmness  or  decision  the  court  may  have 
"arrived  at  in  relation  to  other  principles,  they  appear  to  have 
"  had  so  little  conception  of  the  stability  and  definiteness  of  the 
"  faith  of  the  Society  of  Friends,  as  to  suppose  their  principles 
"  might  be  very  elastic  and  accommodating,  susceptible  of 
"being  bended  this  way  or  that  way  to  suit  occasions.  But 
"  will  it  do  to  bend  the  Christian  faith  and  doctrines,  so  as  to 
''meet  the  caprice  of  mere  speculative  reasoners  ?  George 
"  Fox  could  be  neither  flattered  nor  driven  from  his  unbend- 
"  ing  rule,  either  by  Oliver  Cromwell  or  by  Charles  II,"  etc. 

....  "  Well  aware  of  what  has  been  attempted,  the  judge 
"actually  advocates  the  right  of  a  Yearly  Meeting  to  modify 
"  the  creed  of  the  Society,  or  in  other  words  to  change  its 
"principles;  and  asserts  that  such  a  step  taken  by  a  Yearly 
"  Meet  ing  should  be  binding  upon  all  its  subordinate  meetings 
"and  its  members  !  That  a  Yearly  Meeting  should  have  the 
"power  to  change  the  principles  of  the  Society,  and  to  com- 
"  pel  the  subordinate  meetings  and  members  to  follow  them  in 
"  that  change,  or  be  deprived  of  their  meeting-houses,  are  doc- 
"  trines  new  and  strange  to  old-fashioned  Quakers,  and  would 
'"lie,  we  conceive,  to  others,  upon  any  other  ground  than  the 
"  papal  dogma  that  the  Church  cannot  err. "  .... 

"After  this  elaborate  attempt  to  prove  that  a  change  of 
"  principles  does  not  alter  the  character  or  affect  the  identity 
"of  a  religious  body,  the  judge  declares  that  this  'unhappy 
"  'controversy  arose  out  of  a  jealous;/  or  apprehension,  on  the 
"  'part  of  some  of  the  Quaker  body,  that  another  part  were 
"  'covertly  circulating  and  endeavoring  to  promote  false  doc- 
"'  trines,'  etc.,  ....  '  which,  however,  they  (the  Gurneyite 
"party)  denied  !'  But  does  the  denial  of  a  fact  so  well  known 
"invalidate  a  volume  of  testimony  clearly  going  to  prove  it  V 
".  ...  Is  a  denial  or  negative  of  more  force  in  a  court  of 
"law  than  an  affirmative  V  And  should  not  so  much  testi- 
"  mony  as  was  adduced,  clearly  proving  the  Gurney  party, 
"  in  all  ils  capacities,  to  have  acted  in  support  of  J.  J.  Gurney 


104 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IX      [CHAP.  IX. 


"and  his  doctrines  (inasmuch  as  a  man's  acts  are  stronger 
"evidence  than  his  words)  have  more  force  than  a  mere 
"denial?  Can  we  suppose  that  the  court  could  have  over- 
"  looked  this  important  fact — that  divers  consistent  Friends 
"were  disowned  by  the  Gurney  party  for  openly  expressing 

"their  dissent  from  J.  J.  Gurney's  doctrines?"  

"  There  can  be  no  stronger  proof  of  their  attachment  to  '  Gur- 
"  neyism  '  than  this."  ....  "  Moreover,  it  was  proved  to  the 
"  court,  that  New  England  Yearly  Meeting  gave  to  J.  J. 
"Gurney  a  returning  certificate,  declaring  their  full  unity 
"  with  him,  although  it  was  objected  to  at  the  time,  by  those 
"  with  whom  these  defendants  are  in  unity,  that  such  certifi- 
"  cate  would  be  an  indorsement  of  his  doctrines  :  a  view  which 
"none  offered  to  gainsay.  .  •  .  Still  the  Supreme  Court  of 
"Massachusetts  think  that,  in  very  deed,  this  controversy 
"  arose  from  a  mere  jealousy." 

Again  : 

"The  court  say  that  the  'Narrative  and  Declaration'  put 
"  forth  in  1S45  by  the  Gurney  Yearly  Meeting,  '  was  satisfac- 
"  'tory  [as  regards  their  belief]  to  those  who  affix  the  imputa- 
"'tion  of  heresy  to  that  same  meeting.'  What  foundation 
"  there  is  for  this  assertion  we  know  not ;  certain  it  is  that 
"those  who  affix  that  imputation  have  not  expressed  them- 
"  selves  satisfied  with  the  Declaration  of  Faith,  but  the  con- 
"  trary  ;  holding  it  to  be  defective  because  it  does  not  compre- 
"  hend  the  whole  of  the  Quaker  confession  of  faith,  nor  does  it 
"  discard  a  single  article  of  Gurney's  unsound  doctrines,  which 
"the  Gurneyite  body  were  charged  with  having  adopted  ;  and 
"having  been  so  charged,  it  was  indispensable,  in  order  to 
"prove  them  true  Quakers,  that  they  should  have  specially 
"  acquitted  themselves  from  those  heretical  opinions.  ...  So 
"  far  was  this  Narrative  and  Declaration  from  being  satisfac- 
tory to  the  sound  body,  that  they  immediately  put  forth 
"'Strictures'  and  comments  upon  it,  setting  forth  their  dis- 
" satisfaction,"  etc. 

....  "The /net  was  fully  proved  to  the  court,  though  it 
"seems  not  to  have  been  regarded  by  them,  that  the  Meeting 


1852.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


105 


"for  Sufferings  ....  took  measures  to  spread  Grurney's  doc- 
"  trines,  and  reported  their  having  done  so  to  the  Yearly 
"Meeting,  and  that  the  Yearly  Meeting  acknowledged  its 
"satisfaction  therewith,  and  so  recorded  it  on  their  book. 
"  Thus  it  is  proved  that  meetings  of  the  highest  order  in  the 
"  Society,  if  they  have  not  promulgated  unsound  doctrines  of 
"  their  own,  have  taken  effectual  means  to  spread  those  of 
"  Gurney,"  etc. 

In  reference  to  the  disorderly  appointment  of  Shove 
as  clerk  of  Swanzey  Monthly  Meeting  in  the  eighth 
month,  which  the  Judge  had  acknowledged  to  have  been 
proposed  " before  the  meeting  was  opened  by  the  clerk" 
they  say : 

"To  appoint  a  new  clerk  before  the  meeting  was  opened  by 
"the  former,  when  present,  is  clearly  an  infraction  upon  the 
"order  and  usages  of  New  England  Yearly  Meeting,  which 
"  was  never  before  attempted  ;  and  manifested  not  only  a  spirit 
"  of  disorder,  but  also  of  domination  and  tyranny.  For  it  was 
"  a  person  not  belonging  to  that  meeting  who  named  David 
"Shove  for  clerk  before  the  meeting  was  opened  or  organized 
"for  the  transaction  of  any  business  whatever  ;  in  fact,  before 
"the  session  had  legally  commenced.  And,  as  if  to  render 
"the  disorder  more  complete,  those  attending  from  other 
"  parts  produced  no  minute  of  appointment,  or  any  evidence 
"  or  credentials  to  certify  in  what  capacity  they  were  present." 
.  .  .  .  "  Well  may  the  Judge  say  that  D.  Shove  was  declared 
"clerk  'regularly  or  irregularly,'  and  we  think,  with  the  facts 
"here  stated,  few  will  be  at  a  loss  to  decide  which.  Yet  in 
"the  next  paragraph  the  Court  say.  'We  should  be  inclined 
"  'to  the  opinion  that  at  the  August  meeting,  Shove  must  be 
"  1  taken  to  be  the  authorized  clerk  ;  that  those  who  remained 
"'after  the  adjournment  was  announced  [by  him],  acted 
"  'irregularly,  and  became  seceders  !'  ....  The  Judge  adds, 
"'and  if  Shove  was  improperly  elected,  they  should  have 
"'sought  their  remedy  by  an  appeal  to  the  Quarterly  Meet- 
"  '  ing  ' — a  proposition  wholly  irrelevant  to  the  case."  .  .  .  . 
vol.  n.  — 10 


106 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN      [CHAP.  IX. 


"Their  duty  clearly  was  to  maintain  the  Monthly  Meeting 
"  inviolable,  and  they  did  so,  forwarding  their  usual  account 
"  to  the  Quarterly  Meeting." 

And  they  go  on  to  show  what  the  powers  of  commit- 
tees are,  and  are  not,  according  to  discipline  and  usage. 

In  allusion  to  the  Yearly  Meeting,  they  quote  the 
words  of  the  Court,  viz. But  at  this  time  the 
"'Yearly  Meeting  had  done  no  act,  refused  no  applica- 
"'  tion  for  redress,  declared  no  heretical  opinion,  nor 
"  '  taken  any  step  to  be  complained  of.' "  On  which  they 
make  the  following  remarks: 

"  It  seems  hardly  credible  that  the  Court  could  have  been  so 
"  ignorant  of  the  history  of  New  England  Yearly  Meeting  for 
"  the  four  or  live  }-ears  prior  to  the  separation,  as  to  make  this 
"  assertion.  As  already  stated,  they  had  given  to  J.  J. 
"Gurney  a  full  certificate  of  unity  and  approval,  without  re- 
"  gard  to  the  objection  made  at  the  time,  that  it  would  be  an 
"  indorsement  of  his  unsound  views.  They  had  approved  of 
"the  circulation  of  Gurney 's  books  by  the  Meeting  for  Suffer- 
"ings,  containing  some  of  those  unsound  views.  They  had 
"approved  and  confirmed  the  laying  down  of  South  Kingston 
"Monthly  Meeting,  which  was  done  in  defence  and  for  the 
"  support  of  those  unsound  views,  in  a  manner  plainly  con- 
trary to  the  provisions  of  the  Discipline."  ....  "They  had 
"also  confirmed  the  disownment  of  John  Wilbur,  which  was 
"  effected  by  the  direct  influence  and  action  of  the  Y"early 
"and  Quarterly  Meetings'  committees  in  a  manner  unprece- 
"  dented  in  the  Society,  after  he  had  been  fully  and  honorably 
"acquitted  by  his  own  Monthly  Meeting,  and  all  because  of 
"  his  conscientious  testimony  against  those  unsound  doc- 
"  trines."  .  .  .  .  "  The  Yearly  Meeting  had  also  now  referred 
"this  whole  matter  in  controversy  to  men  ex  parte,  many  of 
"  whom  had  prejudged  it  in  a  public  manner,  and  thus  become 
"  a  direct  party  to  it,  so  that  this  reference — made  as  it  was 
"  against  the  consent  and  under  the  protest  of  the  other  party, 


1852.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


107 


with  the  representatives  selected  as  we  have  already  shown — 
was  at  best  but  a  poor  caricature  of  the  administration  of 
justice  and  right.  In  doing  all  this,  had  the  Yearly  Meet- 
ing 'taken  no  step  to  be  complained  of?'"  ....  "The 
circumstance  that  it  was  a  minority  of  the  representatives 
who  proposed  the  clerks,  and  a  minority  of  the  body  who 
united  with  them  therein,  we  cannot  but  think  must  have 
had  a  strong,  if  not  a  controlling  influence  in  bringing  the 
Court  to  this  conclusion."  ....  "  Those  who  depart  from 
the  principles  of  a  Society,  which  are  the  bond  of  its  union, 
however  anxious  they  may  be  for  it,  can  have  no  '  rightful 
authority  '  to  control  those  who  have  kept  to  first  principles, 
be  their  disparity  of  numbers  what  it  may.  The  apparent 
inability  of  tbe  Court  to  appreciate  this  doctrine,  that  those 
who  hold  to  the  original  principles  of  the  Society  in  the 
Truth,  must  be  accounted  the  genuine  Society  without  regard 
to  numbers,  seems  to  have  led  to  the  (in  our  apprehension) 
erroneous  judgment  which  they  have  rendered." 
"2for  can  a  doctrinal  question,  such  as  now  exists,  be  de- 
cided and  settled  by  a  Yearly  Meeting  itself,  if  one-half  or 
more  of  that  body,  or  perhaps  if  the  controlling  and  influ- 
ential members,  become,  irreclairaably  apostate  in  the  doc- 
trines at  issue  ;  in  such  case  the  body  can  only  be  purged  by 
a  sifting  or  separation,  so  that  the  sound  may  be  disencum- 
bered of  the  unsound,  and  enabled,  by  the  help  of  the  Lord, 
through  faithfulness  and  singleness  of  heart,  to  continue  to 
support  their  original  doctrines  and  testimonies. 
'"But  for  the  civil  tribunal  to  take  the  meeting-houses  and 
lots  from  those  who  have  always  held  to  the  Society's  origi- 
nal principles,  and  for  whose  use  they  were  intended,  and 
give  them  to  those  who  have  brought  in  and  adopted  new 
doctrines,  and  tins  too  upon  the  plea  that  our  doctrines 
may  hi  thus  modified  "<"/  changed  impunity,  is  a  greater 
departure  from  sound  principles  and  just  proceedings  than 
we  were  prepared  to  expect  at  the  hands  of  the  Supreme 
Judicial  Court  of  Massachusetts  ;  and  we  trust  we  have 
shown  that  the  opinion  of  the  Court  is  not  justly  entitled  to 


108 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN      [CHAP.  IX. 


"  become  an  authority  or  precedent  in  regard  to  matters  sim- 
"  ilar  to  those  at  issue  in  this  case." 

Beside  this  Review,  one  of  the  Counsel  likewise  issued 
some  close  strictures  on  the  glaring  errors  of  the  deci- 
sion of  the  Court.  The  following  are  a  few  of  his  re- 
marks, treating  the  case  in  a  legal  point  of  view : 

....  "  In  the  investigation  of  this  question,  the  usages  of 
"the  Society  of  Friends  were  proved  by  numerous  witnesses 
"  and  the  Book  of  Discipline  ;  all  the  transactions  of  the  Meet- 
"  ing  were  clearly  proved,  and  the  legal  authorities  applicable 
"  to  the  case  were  also  cited  and  read  ;  all  of  which  were  vic- 
"  torious  for  the  defendants  ;  and  their  counsel  relied  and  still 
"  relies  that  there  was  full  proof  that  Thomas  Wilbur  was  the 
' '  true  and  legal  clerk  of  that  meeting,  and  that  his  records 
"and  minutes  (confirmed  by  the  testimony)  were  conclusive 
"  evidence  of  the  appointment  of  the  defendants  as  the  true 
"  and  only  overseers  of  the  meeting.  How  could  there  be  a 
"  doubt  ?  The  facts  were  clear,  uncontroverted,  and  uncontro- 
"vertible;  and,  as  Judge  Twisden  said,  'The  law  was  on 
"their  side.'  Here  are  all  the  facts:  [citing  in  brief  from 
"the  testimony.]  ....  AVho  will  stand  up  for  the  '  orderly 
" appointment  of  the  plaintiffs?'  Here  was  the  very  height 
"  of  disorcU  r.  Here  is  John  Meader,  with  half  a  dozen  others, 
"not  members  of  the  meeting,  making  motions  and  speeches 
"  before  the  meeting  is  opened,  and  when  called  to  order,  claim- 
"ing  to  be  committee-men  from  a  superior  meeting,  anil  when 
"  called  upon  for  the  minute  of  their  appointment,  refusing  to 

"  produce  it,  etc.,  etc  Was  it  ever  known,  that  a  nieet- 

"ing,  and  an  election  of  this  sort,  has  been  sustained  by  any 
"  court  of  law  in  Christendom  ?  "  ....  "But  they  say  that 
"  they  were  committee-men  of  a  superior  meeting.  And  what 
"  of  that  ?  The  evidence  in  the  case  does  not  show  that  such, 
"by  Quaker  usages,  could  do  anything  more  than  advise. 
"But  they  are  stripped  of  this  pretence  by  not  producing,  or 
"  handing  in,  the  minute  of  their  appointment.  Such  is  the 
"  law  in  all  analogous  cases."  .... 


1852.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


109 


"  They  (John  Meatier  and  the  committee,  if  they  were  such) 
"had  no  right  to  make  the  motion  which  they  did  make  and 
"assist  to  consummate  ;  it  was  disorderly  and  void  ;  because 
'"it  was  made  and  consummated  before  any  minute  opening 
"'</«e  meeting  had  been  made  by  the  standing  clerk,  or  any 
'"minute  from  the  Quarterly  Meeting  was  produced.'  [Au- 
".thorities  cited.] 

....  "Beyond  all  controversy,  according  to  unquestion- 
able law  and  the  evidence,  Thomas  Wilbur  rightfully  held 
"the  [clerk's]  chair,  did  not  leave  it,  proceeded  with  the  busi- 
"ness  of  the  meeting,  and  that  meeting  chose  or  appointed 
"the  defendants  the  true  and  legitimate  overseers;  and  the 
"assembly  which  afterwards  came  in  with  David  Shove,  and 
"  undertook  to  appoint  the  plaintiffs  overseers,  was  a  disor- 
derly meeting,  a  meeting  in  every  legal  point  of  view  so  en- 
"  tirely  void  of  authority,  that  no  body,  politic  or  ecclesiastical, 
"could  make  it  good,  short  of  legislative  action;  and  even 
tlthat  could  not  divest  the  defendants  of  the  right  and  title, 
"as  trustees,  which  vested  in  them  at  the  moment  of  their 
"  election.  So  well  satisfied  was  Mr.  [Daniel]  AVebster  of  this, 
[he  being  one  of  defendants'  counsel,  but  prevented  from  plead- 
ing by  his  absorbing  public  duties  as  Secretary  of  State,] 
"that  he  was  not  willing  that  the  case  should  be  argued  on 
"any  other  point.  But  that  which  could  not  make  him  for  a 
'•moment  doubtful,  has  affected  the  Court  in  a  very  different 
"manner."  ....  "The  evidence  was  very  full  and  exten- 
sive, and  the  argument  thereon  astute,  and  it  was  very  con- 
venient to  get  over  it  per  saltum,  and  to  place  the  whole 
"  matter  on  the  transcendent  jurisdiction  of  the  Yearly  Meet- 
"ing."  .... 

"But  the  palpable,  transparent,  and,  flagrant  wrong,  and 
"  which  is  not  only  void  in  law,  but  very  astounding  to  sound 
"Friends,  and  reprehensible  in  the  highest  degree,  remained 
"  to  be  consummated.  The  Court  say,  1  At  the  same  meeting  ' 
"  (by  its  subsequent  order)  '  a  Narrative  was  put  forth  as  the 
"  'official  and  authoritative  judgment  of  the  meeting,  adopt- 
"  'ed  by  them,  and  ordered  to  be  authenticated  as  their  act, 
"  1  in  which  the  plaintiffs  are  recognized  and  declared  as  the 


110 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN      [CHAP.  IX. 


"  'rightful  overseers  of  Swanzey  Monthly  Meeting,  appointed 
"  'in  August,  1844.'  We  have  looked  into  that  'Narrative,' 
"referred  to  by  the  Court,  and  cannot  find  that  there  is  any 
"such  recognition  and  declaration;  cannot  find  that'  the 
"  Yearly  Meeting  have  decided  that  the  plaintiffs  were  the 
"rightful  overseers  of  the  Swanzey  Monthly  Meeting.  And 
"on  inquiring  of  the  opposite  party,  they  do  not  say  that  such 
"a  declaration  was  made.  If  none  such  was  in  the  case,  all 
"  the  reasoning  of  the  Court  falls  to  the  ground."  .... 

"  To  say  that,  after  their  election,  a  disorderly  meeting  may 
"choose  others,  and  that  a  superior  meeting  may  waive  the 
"disorder  and  confirm  the  election,  and  in  that  way,  deprive 
"the  overseers  first  chosen  of  their  office  and  the  property 
"  vested  in  them  as  a  corporation,  is  to  accord  to  the  Yearly 
"Meeting  greater  power  than  any  legislative  hody  in  the 
"  United  States  possesses  under  its  Constitution." 

[The  Court  say]  "  'But  there  was  no  question  here,  as  to 
"  '  the  rights  of  the  Swanzey  Monthly  Meeting  ;  hut  as  to  the 
"'claims  of  certain  individuals,  to  he  the  rightful  overseers, 
"  '  representatives,  and  officers  of  the  Swanzey  Monthly  Meet- 
"  'ing!'  Here  is  an  enigma  to  all  Friends  concerned,  and  not 
"much  less  to  their  counsel.  The  argument  is,  that  the  de- 
"  fendants  are  a  corporation,  and  cannot  be  deprived,  hut  by  due 
"process,  according  to  common  right  and  justice.  The  Court 
"say,  'it  was  intimated '  in  the  argument,  that  the  meeting 
"could  be  no  otherwise  deprived  ;  but  that  this  is  a  question 
"  as  to  the  claim  of  certain  persons  to  he  overseers.  Certainly 
"  that  teas  the  question ;  and  the  argument  was,  that  the  defend- 
"ants  were  duly  chosen  overseers  by  that  meeting,  and  that 
"a  superior  meeting  could  not  deprive  them  of  their  office  or 
"estate  merely  by  pronouncing  in  favor  of  others  afterwards 
"  chosen  at  a  disorderly  meeting.  That  the  Court  should  think 
"  they  had  answered  this  argument,  in  this  summary  manner, 
"is  a  mystery.  It  would  seem  they  either  misapprehended 
"the  argument,  or  were  not  fully,  or  at  least  not  consciously 
"  possessed  of  the  facts. 

"  Here  is  the  whole  case.  The  opinion  is  not  well  received 
"by  the  bar,  and  cannot  heal  the  division  in  the  Society  of 


1852.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


Ill 


"Friends.  The  appeal  is  to  the  gentlemen  of  the  bar,  that 
"  the  decision  ought  not  to  stand  as  a  precedent,  to  be  relied 
"  on  in  cases  hereafter  to  be  tried." 

The  occurrence  of  this  disruption  of  New  England 
Yearly  Meeting,  in  the  outrageous  manner  in  which  it 
was  brought  about  by  the  leaders  of  the  Gurney  party, 
and  sustained  by  the  bulk  of  the  members,  plainly  evinced 
that  by  a  large  portion  of  the  latter,  as  well  as  by  the 
former,  our  great  principle  of  the  necessity  of  waiting 
on  the  Lord  himself,  in  the  secret  of  the  soul,  for  the 
enlightening  directions  of  his  Holy  Spirit,  had  been 
practically  laid  aside — the  genuine  result  of  the  novel 
teachings — and  that  an  overweening  confidence  in  cer- 
tain influential  men  had  taken  its  place.  The  result  was 
indeed  deplorable,  in  the  blinding  of  the  eyes  of  many 
who  had  formerly  seen  and  known  and  walked  in  the 
way  of  Truth,  and  in  the  success  thereby  given  to  the 
efforts  of  the  great  enemy  of  all  good,  to  scatter  that 
goodly  heritage  which  had  been  so  highly  favored  as  a 
flock  of  the  Lord's  own  pasture. 


112 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN       [CHAP.  X. 


CHAPTER  X. 

THE  GURNEY  SCHISM  CONTINUED;  AND  RISE  OF  THE 
TEMPORIZING  PARTY  IN  PHILADELPHIA  AND  OHIO 
YEARLY  MEETINGS. 

The  Separation,  begun,  as  we  have  seen,  by  the 
modernizers  in  New  England,  necessarily  brought  be- 
fore all  the  other  Yearly  Meetings  the  important  ques- 
tion :  Which  of  these  two  bodies  shall  we  recognize,  by 
the  usual  epistolary  correspondence,  and  otherwise,  as 
the  true  Society  of  Friends?  Both  the  bodies  in  New 
England  addressed  epistles  to  the  other  Yearly  Meet- 
ings, claiming  this  recognition,  and  explaining  the 
grounds  of  their  position. 

Three  of  the  six  other  American  Yearly  Meetings  at 
that  time  existing,  viz.,  those  of  Indiana,  North  Caro- 
lina, and  Baltimore,  which  occurred  during  the  autumn 
of  1845,  hastily  joined  in  with  the  larger  body,  or  Gur- 
ney  party,  prompted  thereto  by  the  great  prevalence  of 
the  new  views  within  their  borders,  by  the  popularity 
which  J.  J.  Gurney  had  gained  among  them,  and  by  the 
outside  pressure  and  bold  assumptions  of  the  leaders  of  the 
party  in  New  England  and  elsewhere,  whose  emissaries 
promptly  and  zealously  went  all  round,  e  ndeavoring  to  in- 
fluence the  whole  Society  by  their  one-sided  representa- 
tions. Ohio  Yearly  Meeting  also  occurred  in  the  au- 
tumn, but  not  being  so  much  under  the  control  of  the 


1845.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


113 


new  party,  and  many  of  its  members  being  like-minded 
with  some  in  Philadelphia  who  had  no  faith  in  the  new 
system,  and  were  aware  that  a  grievous  wrong  had  been 
done  in  New  England,  took  time  to  consider  the  subject. 
Philadelphia  Yearly  Meeting,  occurring  in  the  ensuing 
spring,  was  looked  to  by  these  as  likely  to  give  the 
whole  matter  a  careful  examination  and  clear  develop- 
ment. But  this  Yearly  Meeting  itself  was  becoming 
more  and  more  divided  in  sentiment  and  weakened  in 
its  testimony  against  the  schism,  by  incipient  defection 
on  the  part  of  some  of  its  prominent  members  hitherto 
advocates  of  sound  doctrine. 

Various  English  ministers  had  visited  the  United 
States  since  J.  J.  Gurney's  departure  from  America, 
the  main  tendency  of  whose  labors  here  had  been,  either 
covertly  to  promote  the  new  views,  or  openly  to  en- 
courage a  temporizing  spirit  and  policy,  so  as  to  smooth 
everything  over.  This  was  eminently  the  ease  with 
John  Pease,  who  at  first  professed  a  sort  of  neutrality, 
but  going  to  New  England,  was  present  at  the  separation, 
gave  the  innovators  his  countenance,  and  joined  heartily 
from  that  time  with  the  Gurney  party,  carrying  many 
halfway  people  with  him.  Benjamin  Seebohm,  coming 
afterwards,  and  remaining  here  between  four  and  five 
years,  promoted  the  same  cause,  though  perhaps  not 
with  so  powerful  an  influence. 

When  B.  Seebohm,  with  his  companion  R.  Lindsay, 
was  about  commencing  to  visit  Bucks  Quarterly  Meet- 
ing in  Pennsylvania,  the  ministers  and  elders,  after  the 
close  of  the  Select  Quarterly  Meeting,  on  a  consideration 
of  the  circumstance,  deputed  two  of  their  number,  viz., 
James  Moon  and  Benjamin  Cadwallader,  to  inform  them 


114 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN       [CHAP.  X. 


that,  on  conferring  together,  way  did  not  open  in  the 
minds  of  Friends  for  appointing  meetings  for  them 
within  the  limits  of  that  quarter;  though  they  were  at 
liberty,  if  they  inclined,  to  sit  with  Friends  in  their 
regular  meetings,  without  any  public  invitations  being 
given  to  the  neighbors.* 

Benjamin  Seebohm,  soon  afterwards,  in  a  private  in- 
terview with  Christopher  Healy,  at  the  house  of  Ruth 
Ely,  a  faithful  elder  of  that  meeting,  alluded  to  the  sub- 
ject, saying  that  the  message  which  he  had  received  was 
a  sore  trial  to  him,  and  that  he  was  desirous  of  knowing 
what  Friends  meant  by  it.  The  conversation  which 
ensued,  which  Christopher  Healy  subsequently  related 
to  a  Friend  who  took  down  the  substance  of  it  after- 
wards from  memory,  is  interesting  and  worthy  of  record 
here,  as  showing  the  plain  and  honest  manner  in  which 
such  advocates  of  novelty  coining  among  us  were  at 
times  dealt  with  privately  by  faithful  watchmen. 

Christopher,  in  answer  to  his  remark,  said  to  him  : 
"  I  need  not  tell  thee,  Benjamin,  of  the  troubles  and  sad 
divisions  which  how  exist  in  our  once  united  and  peace- 
ful Society  ;  neither  is  it  needful  for  me  to  inform  thee 
of  the  causes  which  have  produced  this  sorrowful  con- 
dition of  things,  for  I  believe  thou  knowest  them  as  well 
as  I  do.  And  thou  knowest  also  where  these  troubles 
commenced,  and  that  it  was  in  your  land,  and  not  on 
our  side  of  the  ocean,  that  these  things  had  their  origin. 
And  thou  no  doubt  remembers  that  our  Meetingr  for 
Sufferings  did,  time  and  again,  express  our  uneasiness 
with  the  unsound  doctrines  that  were  published  among 


*  B.  Seebohm's  Journal,  as  printed  by  his  sous,  makes  no  mention  of  this 
occurrence. 


1845.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


115 


you ;  and  thou  knowest  that  your  meeting  would  do 
nothing  to  remove  our  uneasiness." 

Here  Benjamin  said  :  "  You  only  expressed  a  vague 
and  general  uneasiness;  you  brought  no  specific  charges; 
and  you  did  not  even  name  the  individual  to  whom  you 
may  be  supposed  to  have  referred." 

"  It  was  not  necessary,"  replied  Christopher,  "  for  us 
to  mention  any  name,  because  you  knew  as  well  as  we 
did  who  it  was,  and  what  it  was,  that  had  caused  all 
these  difficulties  in  the  Society.  Besides,  if  you  did  not 
know,  it  was  your  bounden  duty  to  make  inquiry,  and 
investigate  the  causes  of  our  concern;  and  then  it  would 
have  become  your  duty  to  take  measures  for  removing 
the  causes  of  offence.  But  your  meeting  was  too  closely 
united  with  J.  J.  Gnrney,  in  friendship  if  not  in  sen- 
timent, to  take  any  step  in  the  matter.  And  thou 
mayest  remember  that  your  Yearly  Meeting  received 
and  read,  just  before  they  set  thee  at  liberty  to  come  to 
this  country,  an  epistle  from  us,  in  which  the  subject  of 
our  uneasiness  was  brought  freshly  and  directly  before 
your  meeting ;  and  I  must  say,  that  I  cannot  see  how 
any  rightly  constituted  meeting  could  set  thee,  or  any 
other  of  its  members,  at  liberty  to  visit  us,  before  taking 
the  proper  steps  for  removing  our  uneasiness;  neither 
can  I  understand  how  any  consistent  Friend  and  truly 
anointed  minister  of  the  gospel  would  be  willing  to 
come  amongst  us,  knowing,  as  thou  didst,  how  much 
concern  and  uneasiness  you  had  given  us.  I  believe 
such  a  minister  would  have  borne  his  burden  silently, 
until  his  meeting  had  given  us  satisfaction,  or  at  least 
until  he  himself  had  cleared  his  hands  of  the  wrong, 
by  bearing  a  faithful  and  public  testimony  against  those 


116 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN       [CHAP.  X. 


things  which  had  grieved  Friends  here.  But  thou  hast 
chosen  to  come  amongst  us,  when  the  peace  and  unity 
of  the  Society  has  been  broken  by  thy  Friends,  not  as  a 
healer  of  breaches  and  a  restorer  of  the  old  paths  to 
dwell  in,  but  thou  hast  cast  thyself  and  all  thy  influence 
into  the  scale  with  Joseph  J.  Gurney  and  his  friends, 
who  have  long  been  engaged  in  trying  to  change  the 
doctrines  and  some  of  the  fundamental  principles  of  our 
religious  Society." 

Benjamin  here  interrupted  Christopher, saying  :  "Thou 
dost  not  understand  J.  J.  Gurney's  views;  for  if  thou 
didst,  thou  wouldst  see  that  they  are  sound." 

Christopher  then  exclaimed  :  "  Benjamin!  Benjamin  ! 
I  am  too  old  a  soldier  to  be  turned  by  such  a  device  as 
this  is.  I  have  now  been  fighting  nearly  or  quite  sixty 
years,  under  the  banner  of  my  heavenly  Captain,  and 
am  I  to  be  told  that  I  don't  understand  these  things — 
that  I  don't  know  what  true  doctrine  is,  or  what  is  un- 
sound and  spurious?  I  believe  I  know  what  the  real 
principles  and  doctrines  of  the  Society  of  Friends  are, 
though  I  was  not  born  a  member,  but  came  in  by  con- 
vincement.  I  was  bred  among  the  Presbyterians,  and 
have  seen  a  good  deal  of  the  Baptists  and  Methodists, 
and  I  think  I  know  what  an  Episcopalian  is,  and  I  be- 
lieve that  Thomas  Shillitoe  told  the  truth,  when,  in  his 
dying  testimony,  he  declared  that  J.  J.  Gurney  was  an 
Episcopalian  and  not  a  Quaker." 

Here  the  conversation  turned  aside  for  awhile  to  some 
remarks  on  the  above-mentioned  testimony  of  T.  Shil- 
litoe, which,  it  seems,  some  had  represented  as  a  fabrica- 
tion; but  Benjamin  acknowledged  that  T.  S.  had  left 
such  a  dying  testimony. 


1846.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


117 


Christopher,  however,  resumed  the  subject  of  the  in- 
consistency of  Benjamin's  coming  amongst  us  as  he  did, 
which  was  not  in  that  unity  which  would  make  his  visit 
either  agreeable  to  himself  or  profitable  to  us.  "This 
was  the  reason,"  added  he,  "  why  Friends  of  Philadel- 
phia could  not  receive  thy  proffered  family  visits ;  and 
this  is  the  reason  why  Friends  of  Bucks  Quarter  cannot 
appoint  meetings  for  thee.  "We  feel  towards  thee  as  we 
did  towards  J.  J.  Gurney  himself  when  he  was  in  this 
land,  and  we  came  to  the  same  conclusion  then,  in  his 
case,  as  we  have  now  in  thine;  and  he  consequently  never 
came  among  us  [in  Bucks  Quarter],  to  trouble  us." 

But  now  came  the  rise  of  a  party  resolved  on  compro- 
mise, so  as  at  all  events  to  avoid  a  separation,  which  was 
threatened  by  the  more  ardent  among  the  Gurneyites. 
This  became  particularly  marked,  and  gradually  more 
and  more  apparent,  from  the  time  of  the  appearance 
here  of  the  delegation  from  London  Yearly  Meeting, 
appointed  to  visit  Indiana  on  account  of  the  antislavery 
separation  which  had  taken  place  there.  This  delega- 
tion consisted,  as  we  have  seen,  of  William  Forster, 
Josiah  Forster,  George  Stacey,  and  John  Allen,  three  of 
whom  had  been  on  the  Beacon  Committee  of  London 
Yearly  Meeting,  in  1835;  and,  as  might  be  supposed, 
their  influence  with  many  well-disposed  Friends  who 
did  not  see  very  clearly,  or  who  dreaded  to  launch  into 
stormy  waters,  was  very  great,  in  frittering  away  an 
adequate  sense  of  the  importance  of  the  doctrinal  ques- 
tions at  issue,  or  overshadowing  this  with  the  plausible 
idea  of  the  paramount  necessity  of  Friends  maintaining 
unity  one  with  another,  and  likewise  the  dreadful  con- 


118 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN       [CHAP.  X. 


sequences  of  a  breach  with  so  powerful  a  body  as  Lon- 
don Yearly  Meeting. 

The  most  influential  promoter  of  this  compromising 
system  and  middle  party,  in  America,  was  Samuel  Bet- 
tie,  who  had  for  many  years  been  clerk  of  Philadelphia 
Yearly  Meeting.  He  was  soon  joined,  though  not  at 
first  publicly  or  very  openly,  by  William  Evans  and  his 
wife  Elizabeth  Evans,  both  of  whom  had  long  been 
acceptable  and  well-esteemed  ministers,  the  former  then 
and  for  many  years  occupying  the  station  of  clerk  to  the 
Yearly  Meeting  of  Philadelphia.  Friends  had  greatly 
confided  in  these  two  eminent  persons,  they  having 
shown  much  zeal  for  the  ancient  testimonies  of  the 
Society,  and  for  a  time  some  warmth  in  support  of  John 
Wilbur,  and  denunciation  of  his  persecutors.* 

The  enunciation  of  these  compromising  or  temporizing 
views  soon  attracted  secret  or  more  open  concurrence  on 
the  part  of  many  of  the  members,  who  thought  they  saw 
therein  a  much  more  easy  and  agreeable  way  of  settling 
the  difficulties,  than  by  the  more  stern  and  unattractive 
but  straightforward  course  prescribed  by  the  Discipline 
and  former  procedure  of  the  Society,  in  cases  of  defection 

*  Some  time  after  the  separation  in  New  England,  William  Evans  said  to  the 
author,  with  great  earnestness,  that  if  Philadelphia  Yearly  Meeting  should  ever 
sanction  the  position  of  the  "  Larger  Body"  in  New  England,  in  claiming  to  be 
the  true  Yearly  Meeting,  he  should  feel  inclined  to  retire  from  all  further  par- 
ticipation in  the  affairs  of  the  Society.  This  was  a  resolution  of  questionable 
propriety  for  one  who  stood  as  a  delegated  shepherd  over  the  flock.  But  the 
sequel  showed  how  far  men  may  go  (by  giving  way  little  by  little  to  the  insinu- 
ations of  the  enemy)  in  a  track  which  they  would  once  have  shuddered  at.  For 
only  a  few  years  afterwards,  when  the  compromising  system  had  taken  full  hold 
of  his  mind,  he  and  his  wife  were  found  strenuously  urging  their  Monthly 
Meeting  to  grant  a  certificate  of  removal  for  one  of  their  members  to  a  meeting 
of  this  very  same  "  Larger  Body  "  of  New  England  <thus  sanctioning  its  claims 
to  be  a  meeting  of  Friends),  even  though  the  measure  was  zealously  opposed  by 
several  of  their  most  substantial  fellow-members.  And  at  length  by  persever- 
ance they  gained  their  point  in  carrying  the  certificate  through  the  meeting. 


1846.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


119 


from  its  acknowledged  principles.  Samuel  Bettle  was 
neither  slow  nor  unskilful  in  taking  advantage  of  this 
turn  of  affairs,  and  managing  it  for  the  success  of  his 
own  purposes;  gradually  gaining  over  most  of  the  mem- 
bers to  the  policy  of  doing  nothing  to  stem  the  popular 
current — but  "standing  still  until  they  could  act  in  the 
unity  " — in  order  to  conciliate  the  original  supporters  of 
J.  J.  Gurney,  and  prevent  the  separation  which  these 
threatened  in  case  the  "  Smaller  Body  "  of  New  England 
should  be  recognized.  Of  course  the  success  of  this  tem- 
porizing scheme  would  frustrate  the  efficacy  of  all  the 
warnings  which  Philadelphia  Yearly  Meeting  had  issued 
against  the  innovating  doctrines  afloat  in  the  Society. 
But  this  seemed  to  be  of  less  moment  in  their  eyes  than 
the  preservation  of  a  superficial  and  fallacious  appear- 
ance of  unity,  keeping  the  Society  together,  however 
heterogeneous  in  feeling  and  purpose.  Time,  however, 
was  required,  for  the  full  development  of  such  purposes, 
and  meanwhile  Philadelphia  Yearly  Meeting  had  the 
appearance  of  a  body  desiring  to  maintain  the  ancient 
principles  of  the  Society.  But  Samuel  Bettle  was  con- 
stantly at  work  with  open  or  underhand  contrivances  to 
establish  the  supremacy  of  this  compromising  or  "  mid- 
dle "  party ;  and  the  strength  and  clearness  which  had 
characterized  Philadelphia  Yearly  Meeting  were  gradu- 
ally frittered  away  before  this  plausible  breeze;  so  that 
the  wrong  things  making  rapid  headway  in  the  Society 
received  no  effectual  check,  and  an  open  and  practical 
testimony  against  them  was  more  and  more  discouraged. 
He  had  herein  the  success  attending  constant  vigilance 
and  industry,  united  with  great  fixedness  of  purpose, 
and  the  power  and  art  of  controlling  the  Yearly  Meet- 


120 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN        [CHAP.  X. 


ing  by  his  machinery ;  for  though  William  Evans,  who 
had  succeeded  him  as  clerk,  often  inveighed  against  his 
schemes  in  private,  yet  gradually  it  became  from  time 
to  time  more  and  more  manifest,  that  in  the  proceedings 
of  the  church  he  shaped  his  course  so  as  to  suit  Samuel 
Bettle's  views,  and  incite  others  to  do  the  same. 

Both  William  Evans  and  his  wife,  in  reply  to  sugges- 
tions that  a  more  firm  opposition  to  the  new  measures  was 
called  for,  Mould  take  the  ground,  that  "we  must  wait 
till  Samuel  Bettle  was  deceased,  and  then  they  would 
come  out !"  Alas,  they  foresaw  not  how  short  their  own 
day  might  be  after  that  event,  nor  how  they  might 
themselves,  if  unfaithful  to  present  duty,  be  afterwards 
unable  to  choose  their  own  time  for  faithful  action  in  the 
church  !* 

Thomas  Evans,  a  man  of  fine  intellect  and  amiable 
disposition,  likewise  had  considerable  influence  in  pro- 
moting the  success  of  this  halfway  system  and  party. 
For  though  he  had,  from  the  very  first  of  J.  J.  Gurney's 
appearance  in  this  country,  been  one  of  the  most  efficient 
promoters  of  his  cause,  and  would  have  accompanied 
him  on  his  travels,  had  not  his  father  (Jonathan  Evans) 
firmly  withstood  it,  yet  when,  some  years  afterwards,  laid 
on  a  sick-bed,  and  brought  to  a  sense  of  the  great  uncer- 
tainty of  his  continuance  here,  he  was  to  some  degree 
made  sensible  that  he  had  gone  too  far,  and  that  at  least 
he  had  given  occasion  for  concern  and  uneasiness  on  the 
part  of  Friends  whose  esteem  he  valued.  But  instead  of 
going  to  the  root  of  the  matter,  and  candidly  and  fully 


*  Much  more  could  be  .said  to  this  important  point,  but  the  author  wishes  to 
treat  it  as  softly  as  may  be  consistent  with  truth  and  duty — the  duty  of  clearly 
developing  the  mischievous  policy  and  responsibility  of  the  halfway  system. 


1846.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


121 


condemning  the  whole  thing,  he  endeavored  apparently 
to  please  one  side  without  displeasing  the  other,  and  at 
the  same  time  sought  to  allay  the  uneasiness  of  his  own 
conscience,  by  publishing  in  "The  Friend"  an  address 
to  the  Society,  containing  a  general  declaration  of  adher- 
ence to  the  ancient  doctrines.  This  was  good,  so  far  as 
it  went.  But  it  is  an  old  and  true  saying,  that  ''  actions 
speak  louder  than  words;"  and  this  paper  by  no  means 
covered  the  ground,  either  of  J.  J.  Gurney's  doctrinal 
errors,  or  of  his  own  erroneous  action,  by  which  the 
cause  of  innovation  had  been  so  greatly  and  so  mani- 
festly encouraged.  Yet  it  sufficed  to  make  an  impres- 
sion on  the  minds  of  many  that  he  was  "coming  round  " 
to  the  views  of  true  Friends ;  and  some  who  had  known 
better,  went  so  far  in  sympathy  with  him,  and  in  hopes 
of  thus  having  his  influence,  as  materially  to  endanger 
their  own  safety  and  weaken  their  standing  in  the 
truth. 

Charles  Evans  had  hitherto  stood  apparently  firm  for 
the  ancient  ways.  In  the  early  part  of  the  year  1846, 
he  published  in  Philadelphia  a  pamphlet  of  86  pages, 
entitled  "Considerations  addressed  to  the  Members  of  the 
Yearly  Meeting  of  Friends  of  Philadelphia,"  with  the 
words  of  the  wise  author  of  the  "Proverbs"  for  a  motto 
on  its  title-page — "  He  that  answereth  a  matter  before 
he  heareth  it,  it  is  folly  and  a  shame  unto  him."  The 
work  was  designed  lor  the  information  of  the  members 
of  Philadelphia  Yearly  Meeting  in  regard  to  the  real 
facts  and  circumstances  of  the  New  England  schism, 
and  the  great  importance  of  coming  to  a  right  conclusion. 
Indeed  it  presented  a  lucid  view  of  the  transactions 
which  had  resulted  in  that  separation,  and  concluded 

Vol..   [I.— 1 1 


122 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN       [CHAP.  X. 


with  an  earnest  appeal  to  Friends  of  Philadelphia  Yearly 
Meeting,  to  give  the  question  that  calm  and  serious  ex- 
amination, which  its  importance  and  the  welfare  of  the 
whole  Society  so  clearly  demanded.  A  few  detached 
extracts  may  serve  to  show  the  tenor  of  the  whole. 

The  Yearly  Meeting  of  the  "  Larger  Body  "  in  New 
England  had  issued  an  "  Epistle  to  their  Quarterly  and 
Monthly  Meetings,  and  to  the  individual  members  of 
the  Society,"  respecting  the  separation,  in  which  they 
said : 

"  It  has  been  deeply  affecting  to  us  to  learn  that  under  the 
"influence  of  that  delusive  spirit  to  which  we  have  referred, 
"some  have  accepted  such  books  [as  they  chose  to  consider 
pernicious,  because  they  developed  the  unsoundness  of  the 
new  views  and  the  irregular  practices  of  those  who  sustained 
them],  and  received  written  or  verbal  statements  from  in- 
"  terested  parties,  as  of  almost  equal  validity  with  those  con- 
"  tained  in  publications  issued  by  regularly  constituted  bodies 
11 'of  valuable  Friends,  a  description  of  document  to  which  im- 
u  plicit  credence  has  heretofore  been  given — and  under  such 
"false  impressions,  have  imbibed  and  urged  individual  senti- 
"  ments,  against  the  solid  judgment  of  the  body — proceedings 
"  totally  at  variance  with  that  into  which  the  Truth  leads."* 

In  noticing  this  arrogant  claim  to  implicit  credence 
for  its  documents  in  preference  to  those  of  the  "Smaller 
Body,"  the  author  of  the  "  Considerations  "  remarks  : 

"  We  believe  this  is  the  first  and  only  instance  in  which  any 
"  meeting  in  our  Society  has  ventured  the  opinion  that  the 
"  '  validity  1  of  a  statement  of  tacts  is  to  be  tested  by  the  source 
"from  whence  it  emanates.  Such  statements,  whether  the 
"'contents  of  books,'  'written  or  verbal,'  'from  interested 
"  persons,' or  'contained  in  publications  issued  by  regularly 


*  Epistle,  18l."i,  pa^c  G. 


1840.] 


Till:  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


123 


"constituted  bodies  of  valuable  friends,'  depend  altogether 
"  upon  truth  for  their  validity  ;  and  we  trust  our  Society  w  ill 
"never  see  the  day,  when  such  '  constituted  bodies  '  shall  be 
"considered  so  far  infallible,  as  that  their  'documents'  will 
"be  received  with  any  other  'implicit  credence'  than  that 
"which  their  truth  demands.  If  the  imbibing  or  urging  of 
"'individual  sentiments  against  the  solid  judgment  of  the 
"body'  must  always  be  '  totally  at  variance  with  that  [pro- 
ceeding] into  which  the  Truth  leads,'  then  is  the  i-ight  of 
"private  judgment  not  merely  a  delusion,  but  its  exercise  a 
"crime  of  the  deepest  dye.  Were  this  assertion  based  upon 
"  truth,  how,  let  us  ask,  could  Luther  have  stood  up  against 
"the  iniquities  of  Home  V  How  could  George  Fox  and  his 
"fellow-laborers  have  come  out  from  the  lifeless  professors  of 
"their  day?  Or,  are  we  to  understand  that  'the  body,*  if 
"  made  up  of  prof  casing  Friends,  is  infallible  '?  Alas  !  we  have 
"  had  mournful  evidence  in  our  day  of  declension  and  revolt, 
"that  such  builics,  outnumbering  by  far  even  that  which  has 
"put  forth  this  sentiment,  have,  by  their  'solid  judgment,' 
"  sanctioned  and  joined  hands  with  those  who  denied  the  Lord 
"  that  bought  them,  and  counted  the  blood  of  the  covenant  an 
"  unholy  tiling."  (P.  16.) 

At  page  22,  after  saying  that  any  attempt  to  change 
or  lay  waste  our  settled  faith,  "  is  treason  against  the 
whole  Society,"  and  showing  the  obligation  which  rests 
on  superior  meetings  to  see  that  the  subordinate  meet- 
ings do  their  duty  in  guarding  the  church  from  any 
violation  of  its  principles,  the  author  of  the  "  Consider- 
ations" observed,  that, 

"If,  through  weakness  or  revolt,  or  from  whatever  cause, 
"  the  Yearly  Meeting  allows  the  defection  to  go  on  unchecked, 
"  then  the  whole  Society,  unless  prepared  to  undergo  a  change, 
"must  adopt  such  measures  as  circumstances  dictate,  to  de- 
"  fend  its  faith,  and  to  protect  those  within  such  a  meeting 
"who  may  continue  loyal  thereto,  from  being  deprived  of  the 


124 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN       [CHAP.  X. 


"rights  they  possess  as  its  members,  by  the  perverted  use  of 
"the  Discipline  in  the  hands  of  men  who  have  departed  from 
"  the  faith." 

After  succinctly  narrating  the  series  of  measures  which 
resulted  in  the  separation  in  New  England  Yearly  Meet- 
ing of  1845,  and  distinctly  recognizing  the  Swanzey 
Monthly  Meeting  and  the  Rhode  Island  Quarterly 
Meeting  belonging  to  the  "  Smaller  Body,"  as  the  only 
true  meetings  of  those  designations,  the  author  of  the 
"  Considerations"  held  the  following  language  in  relation 
to  what  passed  in  New  England  Yearly  Meeting  itself, 
at  that  momentous  crisis  : 

"Some  may  think  it  would  have  been  better  for  those  who 
"  now  constitute  the  Smaller  Body,  to  have  patiently  waited 
"  until  the  Yearly  Meeting  had  adopted  the  report  which  it 
"  was  well  known  the  representatives  would  make  before  they 
"  made  an  effort  to  maintain  the  meeting  on  its  original  foun- 
dation; but  they  acted  in  accordance  with  what  appeared 
"to  them  at  the  time  required  at  their  hands,  and  to  be  con- 
sistent with  the  Discipline,  in  the  appointment  of  clerk  and 
"  assistant,  and  thus  continuing  what  they  believed  to  be  New 
"  England  Yearly  Meeting  The  Larger  Body  acknowledged 
"the  representatives  of  the  Quarterly  Meeting  set  up  in  the 
"  manner  which  has  been  described,  and  thus  identified  itself 
"with  the  meeting  of  the  Separatists,  and  with  all  the  extra- 
ordinary measures  pursued  by  the  Yearly  Meeting's  com- 
"mittee."  .... 

"  Three  of  the  Yearly  Meetings  which  occm-red  during  the 
"last  autumn,  respectively,  concluded,  upon  the  report  of 
"committees  appointed  to  examine  the  epistle  sent  by  the 
"Smaller  Body,  to  decline  receiving  it,  and,  so  far  as  that 
"  conclusion  goes,  have  condemned  some  hundreds  of  their 
"fellow-members,  and  cut  them  off  from  communion  with 
"  them,  without  inquiry  and  without  any  official  examination 
"  into  the  causes  which  have  led  to  the  deplorable  state  of 


1846.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


125 


"  things  in  New  England  At  each  of  these  meetings,  depu- 
"  tations  from  the  Larger  Body  were  present,  who,  without 
"  attributing  any  sinister  motive  to  them,  we  may  believe  ex- 
"erted  whatever  influence  they  possessed,  to  portray  the 
'•  doings  of  the  body  they  represented  in  the  fairest,  and  those 
"of  their  dissenting  brethren  in  the  darkest  light  they  could 
"  cast  over  them  The  Smaller  Body,  relying  on  the  goodness 
"of  its  cause,  and  the  omnipotence  of  an  overruling  Provi- 
"  dence,  have  sent  forth  none  to  plead  in  their  behalf." 

Such  were  the  salutary  sentiments  expressed  in  1846, 
by  the  author  of  the  "  Considerations."  Would  that 
they  had  been  in  subsequent  times  carried  out  in  prac- 
tice !  A  few  years  afterwards,  application  was  made  on 
behalf  of  the  Meeting  for  Sufferings  of  the  Smaller  Body 
of  New  England,  for  permission  to  publish  a  second 
edition  of  this  pamphlet  ;  but  they  could  not  obtain  it. 

Philadelphia  Yearly  Meeting,  or  its  Meeting  for 
Sufferings,  for  some  years  repeatedly  warned  the  Society 
in  England  (through  epistolary  correspondence)  of  the 
danger  to  be  apprehended  from  the  unsoundness  of  the 
new  doctrines  so  freely  circulating  both  in  Europe  and 
America.  And  at  length,  apprehending  that  these  com- 
munications, made  to  the  Meeting  for  Sufferings  in  Lon- 
don, had  been  withheld  from  the  knowledge  of  the 
members  in  general  in  England  (through  the  practice  of 
only  reading  in  the  Yearly  Meeting  a  selection  from  the 
minutes  of  its  transactions),  Philadelphia  Yearly  Meet- 
ing, in  1846,  concluded  to  refer  to  the  subject  in  its 
Epistle  to  the  Yearly  Meeting  of  London,  so  that  the 
epistle  to  the  Meeting  for  Sufferings  last  received  had 
to  be  produced  to  the  meeting  at  large.  In  replying  to 
that  Epistle,  the  Yearly  Meeting  of  London  barely  al- 
luded to  this  momentous  subject,  acknowledging  the 


126 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN        [CHAP.  X. 


"strength,  instruction,  and  comfort"  to  be  derived 
from  the  epistolary  correspondence  when  "  carried  on  in 
Christian  love  and  condescension,"  but  adding  this  sig- 
nificant hint :  "  We  doubt  whether  these  objects  will  be 
promoted  by  entering,  in  this  correspondence,  into  the 
particular  consideration  of  cases,  which,  whenever  they 
arise,  are  the  proper  subjects  of  our  Discipline  in  our 
respective  meetings."  No  satisfaction  was  received  by 
Friends  of  Philadelphia  Yearly  Meeting,  in  reply  to 
their  brotherly  admonitions,  nor  any  action  taken  on  the 
part  of  the  Yearly  Meeting  of  London  to  avert  the 
danger  of  which  they  were  thus  renewed ly  warned. 
They  quietly  let  the  subject  drop,  as  the  easiest  way  of 
getting  rid  of  it ;  though  many  of  their  members  were 
sorely  grieved  at  this  evidence  that  no  check  could  be 
put  to  the  progress  of  the  new  views.* 

Philadelphia  Yearly  Meeting  convened  in  the  fourth 
month  of  1846,  with  the  serious  prospect  before  its  mem- 
bers, of  having  to  meet  the  momentous  question  of  the 
recognition  of  one  or  other  of  the  two  bodies  in  New 
England.  But  it  soon  appeared  that  Samuel  Bettle  and 
William  Evans,  the  clerk,  were  resolved  that  no  recog- 
nition of  the  "  Smaller  Body  "  should  take  place  if  they 
could  by  any  means  frustrate  it  or  put  it  by.  Several 
strangers,  of  the  Gurney  party,  were  present,  exerting 
their  influence  among  the  members.    The  London  depu- 

*  Even  so  late  as  1853,  the  Meeting  for  Sufferings  of  Philadelphia  uttered  this 
salutary  caution  to  the  corresponding  Meeting  in  London  :  '■  By  yielding  to  this 
compromising  spirit,  weakness  and  faltering  in  the  faithful  support  of  the  Dis- 
cipline, in  cases  of  the  obvious  violation  of  our  Christian  testimonies,  are  intro- 
duced into  meetings,  to  the  grief  of  the  rightly  concerned  members,  and  the 
increase  of  apathy  and  lukewarm ness.  We  fear  the  influence  of  this  state  of 
tilings  as  regards  the  Society  in  this  land,"  etc. 


1846.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


127 


tatioD  to  Indiana  was  also  present,  and  had,  no  doubt, 
much  influence  with  some  of  those  inclining  toward  the 
compromising  system,  if  not  even  to  settle  some  entirely 
among  the  Gurney  party. 

The  clerk,  at  an  early  period  in  the  meeting,  stated  that 
there  were  two  epistles  and  other  papers  purporting  to 
come  from  New  England  Yearly  Meeting,  and  queried 
whether  they  had  not  better  be  all  referred  to  the  Meet- 
ing for  Sufferings,  that  they  might  carefully  examine 
them,  and  report  their  judgment  next  year.  Much  dis- 
cussion followed  this  proposition.  Most  Friends  present 
had  by  this  time  had  opportunities  for  obtaining  a  knowl- 
edge of  the  circumstances  of  the  separation,  and  of  the 
grounds  and  causes  out  of  which  it  sprang.  A  large 
number  of  the  most  substantial  and  weighty  members 
were  at  that  time  prepared  to  have  the  claims  of  the 
"  Smaller  Body  "  acknowledged  by  receiving  its  Epistle. 
But  of  course  the  advocates  of  the  new  views  came  out 
warmly  and  numerously  against  this,  and  very  decidedly 
urged  the  reading  of  the  document  from  the  "Larger 
Body."  Their  opposition  to  the  Smaller  Body's  Epistle 
was  greatly  aided  by  the  efforts  made  by  the  clerk  and 
Samuel  Bettle  to  put  by  the  reading  of  either  for  the 
present ;  in  which  they  were  joined  by  a  number  of  those 
who  under  their  influence  were  already  sliding  into  the 
fallacious  track  of  the  party  of  compromise.  Most  of 
the  sitting  was  consumed  in  the  discussion  of  the  subject, 
and  it  was  evident  that  the  solid  sense  of  the  Yearly 
Meeting,  as  expressed  by  its  most  weighty  and  experi- 
enced members,  was  then  in  favor  of  the  claims  of  the 
"Smaller  Body."  Many,  though  not  all,  of  those  who 
spoke  on  the  side  of  the  Gurney  party,  were  young  per- 


128 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN       [CHAP.  X. 


sons,  or  others  of  but  slender  religious  experience,  and 
some  of  them  not  of  consistent  life  and  conversation. 
But  the  clerk  (with  Samuel  Bettle  at  his  side)  was  de- 
termined that  no  such  result  as  was  then  indicated  should 
take  place,  as  it  would  be  to  the  dire  offence  of  the 
Gurney  party  ;  and  he  finally  made  a  minute  referring 
the  w  hole  subject,  with  all  the  papers,  to  the  next  Yearly 
Meeting.* 

The  Yearly  Meeting  of  New  York  occurred  in  the 
fifth  month,  and  having  a  large  preponderance  of  advo- 
cates of  the  new  views,  with  the  clerk  also  decidedly  on 
that  side,  the  question  of  the  division  in  New  England 
was,  without  any  pretence  of  examination  into  its  cir- 
cumstances, promptly  decided  in  favor  of  the  "  Larger 
Body,"  or  modernizing  seceders.  A  small  portion  of 
the  members  present  demurred,  but  their  voice  was  of 
no  avail  against  the  multitude. 

Ohio  Yearly  Meeting,  occurring  in  the  autumn  of  this 
year,  again  had  the  same  important  question  before  it. 
There  had  been  for  years  among  the  members  of  that 
Yearly  Meeting  a  considerable  prevalency  of  opposition  to 
the  new  doctrines.  But  Benjamin  Hoy le,  who  possessed 
great  influence  there,  and  had  been  for  a  long  time  clerk  of 
that  Yearly  Meeting,  placed  an  undue  confidence  in  certain 
leading  members  of  Philadelphia  Yearly  Meeting,  and 
when  they  began  to  temporize,  he  was  soon  drawn  into 
full  co-operation  with  them  ;  and  of  course  many  more, 

*  The  clerk,  on  going  home,  after  that  memorahle  sitting,  was  heard,  by  a 
friend  at  his  table,  to  remark  that  at  one  time  thai  day,  it  was  clearly  the  seusc 
of  the  meeting,  to  acknowledge  the  "Smaller  Body"  of  Friends  in  New  Eng- 
land, and  that  it  was  in  his  power  to  have  done  so.  This  is  important,  as  prov- 
ing that  at  that  time  he  knew  what  the  solid  sense  and  judgment  of  the  meet- 
ing indicated,  but  pursued  his  own  course. 


1840.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


129 


who  followed  in  his  and  their  track,  with  the  same  im- 
plicit reliance  upon  the  leadership  of  man,  instead  of  an 
individual  waiting  for  the  mind  of  Christ.  The  result 
was  that  Ohio  Yearly  Meeting  was  kept  for  years  in  a 
state  of  great  disturbance  of  feeling;  the  Gurney  party 
not  being  able  to  accomplish  a  recognition  of  their 
brethren  the  "  Larger  Body"  in  New  England,  while 
Benjamin  Hoyle  was  repeatedly  appointed  clerk  ;  and  he 
on  the  other  hand  was  following  the  example  of  those 
in  Philadelphia  who  were  parrying  off  and  baffling  all 
attempts  to  acknowledge  the  "  Smaller  Body."  Thus 
the  "  middle  party "  obtained,  though  the  clerks,  a 
stormy  and  unsatisfactory  control  in  both  these  meet- 
ings, at  the  expense  of  a  straightforward  upholding  of 
their  own  previous  testimony  for  the  Truth,  and  in  vio- 
lation of  the  conscientious  convictions  of  a  large  portion 
of  the  members. 

Notwithstanding  the  formidable  defection  which  was 
thus  taking  place  from  the  ranks  of  Friends  sound  in 
doctrine,  through  the  example  and  influence  of  certain 
leaders  of  the  people,  yet  there  was  still  an  evidence  of 
true  life  existing  among  many  of  the  members  of  these 
two  Yearly  Meetings,  both  of  the  older  and  the  younger 
classes ;  and  great  was  the  solicitude  of  these  that  the 
Society  might  not  drift  altogether  into  the  vortex  of 
modernized  Quakerism,  which  had  now  swallowed  up 
whole  Yearly  Meetings,  and  was  evidently  bent  on  revo- 
lutionizing the  Society. 

The  Yearly  Meeting  of  Philadelphia  had  failed  to 
take  any  decisive  step  with  regard  to  New  England  ; 
yet  most  of  the  members  of  the  Meeting  for  Sufferings 
felt  the  necessity  of  something  being  done  to  show  the 

VOL.  II — 12 


130 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN       [('HAP.  X. 


grounds  on  which  we  stood  opposed  to  the  new  doctrines 
and  practices.  This  it  was  thought  could  be  done  with- 
out at  once  interfering  with  the  difficult  question  of  the 
New  England  secession.  Indeed,  some  thought  it  a 
necessary  preliminary  step  to  any  conclusion  in  regard 
to  the  latter,  and  hoped  that  it  might  open  a  way  by 
which  that  could  eventually  be  settled.  A  committee 
was  accordingly,  at  length,  appointed  in  the  Meeting 
for  Sufferings,  representing  pretty  fairly  the  different 
shades  of  sentiment  in  that  body;  viz. :  Daniel  B.  Smith, 
William  Hodgson,  Charles  Evans,  Henry  Cope,  Samuel 
Bettle,  William  Evans,  Ezra  Comfort,  William  Hilles, 
Hinchman  Haines,  David  Cope,  Abraham  Gibbons, 
Thomas  Evans,  Henry  Warrington,  and  Enoch  Lewis. 
This  committee  was  industriously,  and  some  of  its  num- 
ber laboriously  occupied  during  the  winter,  in  a  com- 
parison of  the  novel  views,  characterizing  the  publications 
of  J.  J.  Gurney  and  Edward  Ash,  with  the  ancient  and 
established  doctrines  of  the  Society  as  declared  by  our 
early  writers.  Several  of  its  members  being  desirous  of 
avoiding  a  full  development  of  the  doctrinal  defection, 
much  incongruity  of  sentiment  was  painfully  devel- 
oped during  their  deliberations ;  and  on  various  occa- 
sions so  strong  was  the  opposition  to  a  clear  elucidation 
of  the  unsoundness  of  the  authors  above  named,  that  it 
might  be  said  the  battle  teas  gained  by  inches.  But  there 
were  some  men  in  that  committee  who  had  not  yet 
bowed  the  knee  to  Baal,  and  who  then  saw  the  necessity 
of  a  firm  contending  for  the  faith  once  delivered  to  the 
saints ;  and  the  result  was  the  adoption  towards  spring 
of  a  document  clearly  showing  the  incompatibility  of  the 
new  doctrines  with  our  ancient  faith,  and  the  sorrowful 


1847.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


131 


effects  which  must  ensue  to  the  Society,  if  the  innova- 
tions should  be  suffered  to  prevail.  This  document  was 
presented  to  the  consideration  of  the  Yearly  Meeting  in 
the  fourth  month.  1847,  and  was,  by  a  very  large  expres- 
sion of  approval,  though  also  with  strong  opposition  on 
the  part  of  those  favoring  innovation,  adopted  by  the 
Yearly  Meeting,  and  ordered  to  be  published,  entitled 
"  An  Appeal  for  the  Ancient  Doctrines."  It  formed  a 
pamphlet  of  G8  pages,  containing  many  quotations, 
fairly  and  very  carefully  selected  from  an  abundance  of 
other  passages  of  the  same  tenor,  in  the  works  of  the  two 
modern  writers  alluded  to ;  with  ample  extracts  on  the 
other  hand  from  the  ancient  standard  writings  of  the  So- 
ciety; showing  their  incongruity,  and  warning  the  mem- 
bers against  the  devastating  effects  which  must  ensue 
from  the  prevalenev  of  that  system  of  self-activity  and 
"  lettered  divinity,"  which  it  was  the  tendency  of  the 
recent  publications  to  promote.  A  very  large  edition 
was  printed  and  circulated.  Ohio  Yearly  Meeting  after- 
wards adopted  this  "  Appeal,"  instead  of  undertaking 
to  prepare  anything  special  of  their  own  on  the  subject. 

But  the  question  of  recognition  of  one  or  other  of  the 
two  bodies  in  New  England  as  the  true  Yearly  Meeting 
there,  was  still  pressing  upon  Philadelphia,  and  many 
on  both  sides  were  anxious  for  a  settlement  of  it.  The 
decision  had  hitherto  been  warded  off  by  those  who 
feared  the  consequences  of  a  conclusion  in  accordance 
with  the  manifest  solid  sense  of  the  Yearly  Meeting. 
But  at  length,  in  the  Yearly  Meeting  of  1848,  the  sub- 
ject claimed  very  serious  and  general  attention  during 
several  sittings,  having  taken  a  deep  hold  of  the  minds 
of  many  Friends.    On  Third-day  morning,  soon  after 


132 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN       [CHAP.  X. 


the  meeting  opened,  Hinchraan  Haines  arose,  and  after 
making  some  weighty  remarks  on  the  state  of  things, 
concluded  by  saying,  "  I  am  now  ready  to  receive  the 
epistle  from  what  is  called  the  '  Smaller  Body.' "  Christo- 
pher Healy  next  said,  "  I  was  ready  when  the  subject 
first  came  before  us;"  and  many  now  followed  in  the 
same  direction ;  so  that  it  seemed  as  if  the  cloud  had 
risen  from  the  tabernacle,  and  the  people  might  go  for- 
ward. But  at  this  juncture  Samuel  Bettle  arose,  and 
said,  "  Friends,  you  may  have  strength  to  carry  it 
through — you  may  be  able  to  carry  it  over  our  heads — 
but  if  you  do,  it  will  be  a  triumph  of  the  adversary.  I 
will  make  a  proposition — to  refer  the  subject  either  to  a 
committee  now  to  be  appointed,  or  to  the  Meeting  for 
Sufferings."  The  latter  proposal  was  immediately  re- 
sponded to  by  many,  and  the  Meeting  for  Sufferings  was 
accordingly  directed  to  make  a  careful  examination  into 
the  circumstances  and  causes  of  the  separation,  so  that  the 
Yearly  Meeting  on  receiving  their  report  might  be  enabled 
to  come  to  a  right  judgment  in  this  very  serious  matter. 

Toward  the  close  of  this  Yearly  Meeting,  our  aged 
friends  Hinchman  Haines  and  Christopher  Healy  re- 
quested that  the  meeting  might  be  allowed  to  close  in 
silence.  The  latter  was  accosted,  on  his  way  home,  on 
the  steamboat,  by  Richard  Mott,  who  with  a  number  of 
other  active  advocates  of  the  new  views  had  attended  the 
meeting  from  New  York  and  elsewhere.  Richard  Mott 
said  to  him:  "  Christopher,  thou  took  too  much  upon 
thyself,  and  more  than  any  man  has  a  right  to  do,  when 
thou  prevented  Friends  who  were  in  attendance  of  your 
Yearly  Meeting  with  credentials,  from  spreading  their 
concerns  before  their  brethren."    Christopher  replied  : 


1848.]  THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


133 


"  I  thought  all  these  people  had  amply  sufficient  time 
for  unburdening  their  minds,  and  I  think  they  took,  at 
the  very  least,  their  full  share  of  our  time,  and  gave  us 
opportunity  enough  for  the  exercise  of  forbearance  toward 
them." 

"  I  allude,"  said  Richard,  "to  the  closing  sitting  of 
your  Yearly  Meeting,  when  thou  so  improperly,  as  I 
think,  closed  the  door  against  them,  and  prohibited  them 
from  relieving  their  minds." 

Christopher. — "  It  was  my  friend  Hinchman  Haines 
who  made  the  remark  to  which  thou  hast  alluded,  and 
which  was,  to  the  best  of  my  recollection,  to  this  pur- 
pose— that  it  was  very  desirable  that  in  these  our  annual 
assemblies  we  should  be  permitted  to  sit  together  in 
solemn  silence,  to  seek  after  the  influence  of  ancient  good- 
ness, that  we  might  feel  its  [>ower  to  sweeten  and  har- 
monize our  hearts ;  adding,  that  our  Yearly  Meeting 
had  often  been  favored  to  separate  under  a  solemn  cover- 
ing of  reverential  silence,  and  he  hoped  it  would  be  so 
on  the  present  occasion.  It  is  true  that  I  indorsed  his 
sentiments,  for  I  had  full  unity  with  them;  and  I  added 
the  expression  of  my  desire  to  his,  that  we  might  be 
permitted  to  get  into  stillness  before  the  Lord,  that  the 
meeting  might  close  under  a  solemn  covering  of  good. 
Our  Yearly  Meeting  certainly  has  the  right,  under 
divine  authority,  to  say  when  and  how  its  sittings  shall 
terminate;  and  I  trust  we  shall  continue  to  exercise  that 
right  and  authority  which  the  Truth  gives." 

R.  M. — "  I  have  been  told  ....  that  on  Fifth-day 
[at  the  North  Meeting-house]  thou  took  Benjamin  See- 
bohm  to  task,  publicly  in  the  meeting-house,  for  preach- 
ing too  long,  as  thou  wast  pleased  to  consider  it." 


134 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN       [CHAP.  X. 


C.  H. — "  Well,  Richard,  if  I  did  rebuke  Benjamin  for 
his  too  much  speaking,  he  at  least  deserved  it.  He  cer- 
tainly preached  long — much  too  long,  as  I  believe — and 
without  any  unction  or  life  about  it,  as  I  could  discover. 
It  was  words,  mere  words.  And  I  did  by  him  what  I 
hope  my  friends  will  do  by  me,  if  they  find  me  preach- 
ing without  life  and  authority,  as  Benjamin  was  doing." 

R.  M. — "Your  Yearly  Meeting  is  taking  too  much 
upon  itself,  in  presuming  to  judge  another  Yearly  Meet- 
ing, over  whom  you  have  no  right  to  exercise  any  au- 
thority whatever,  because  it  is  as  independent  a  body  as 
your  Yearly  Meeting  is." 

C.  H. — "  Our  Yearly  Meeting  has  just  the  same 
right,  under  divine  authority,  to  express  its  uneasiness, 
or  even  to  deal  with  another  Yearly  Meeting,  as  one  in- 
dividual has  to  deal  with  another  individual,  under  the 
feelings  of  religious  concern.  And  one  Yearly  Meeting 
may,  if  needs  be,  set  the  judgment  of  Truth  over  another 
Yearly  Meeting;  for  it  has  always  been  the  privilege — 
nay,  the  duty — of  those  who  are  in  the  Truth,  to  judge 
those  who  are  out  of  it." 

R.  M. — "  But  how  do  you-  know  that  these  friends  in 
New  England  are  out  of  the  Truth?" 

C.  H. — "We  know  that  J.  J.  Gurney  was  out  of  the 
Truth,  because  his  own  writings  prove  it.  His  doctrines 
are  not  those  of  the  religious  Society  of  Friends — they 
are  spurious  and  unsound.  And  we  know  this  '  large 
body ''in  New  England  has  indorsed  him  and  his  un- 
soundness, and  disowned  John  Wilbur  because  he  testi- 
fied against  Gurney's  unsound  doctrines  and  principles  ; 
and  they  thus  separated  themselves  from  the  Society, 
and  went  out  from  us  because  they  were  not  of  us." 


1848.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


135 


R.  M. — "  Christopher,  there  is  a  shyness  between  thee 
and  me,  which  was  not  felt  in  old  times,  and  for  which 
I  cannot  account.  I  do  not  believe  the  cause  of  it  is  in 
me." 

C.  H. — "  Indeed,  Richard,  it  is  very  plain  that  there 
is  such  a  shyness,  but  dost  thou  see  any  change  in  me  ? 
Am  I  not  what  I  always  was  since  thou  first  knew  me, 
the  same  in  sentiment,  the  same  in  doctrine,  the  same  in 
love  and  zeal  for  the  Truth  ?" 

R.  M. — "I  do  not  accuse  thee  of  having  changed." 

C.  H. — "  Well  then,  Richard,  if  I  have  not  changed, 
thou  must  have  done  so,  for  we  are  evidently  far  asunder 
now." 

The  steamboat  arriving  now  at  a  landing-place,  they 
separated,  with  an  expression  by  R.  M.  that  he  was 
sorry  to  part  so,  as  he  wished  for  more  conversation  with 
his  old  friend.  The  above  conversation  was  afterwards 
related  by  C.  H.  to  a  friend,  who  wrote  down  the  sub- 
stance of  it  as  above  from  a  retentive  memory. 

The  Meeting  for  Sufferings,  in  pursuance  of  the  di- 
rection of  the  Yearly  Meeting,  appointed  a  committee  of 
fifteen  of  its  members,  viz.,  Christopher  Healy,  Hinch- 
man  Haines,  Ebenezer  Roberts,  William  Evans,  Daniel 
B.  Smith,  Israel  W.  Morris,  Enoch  Lewis,  Samuel  Hilles, 
William  Hilles,  Abraham  Gibbons,  Henry  Cope,  Morris 
Cope,  Charles  Evans,  Joseph  Scattergood,  and  William 
Hodgson,  to  make  a  careful  investigation  into  the  facts 
and  circumstances  connected  with  the  origin  and  progress 
of  the  New  England  Separation,  and  report.  The  great 
importance  of  the  subject  thus  committed  to  them,  and 
the  circumstance  that  the  committee  was  composed  of 
men  of  all  shades  of  opinion  on  the  state  of  the  Society 


136 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN      [CHAP.  X. 


at  this  crisis,  will  warrant  our  going  into  more  detail  in 
respect  to  its  proceedings  than  would  otherwise  be  neces- 
sary, or  perhaps  desirable.  I  believe  it  right  indeed  here 
to  place  on  record  a  succinct  statement  of  what  occurred 
at  the  first  sittings  of  the  committee,  inasmuch  as  the 
successive  remarks  unfold  so  clearly  the  different  phases 
of  opinion  and  bias  of  the  respective  members,  which 
were  further  developed  as  events  passed  on,  and  which 
are  important  to  be  rightly  understood. 

The  subject  was  felt  to  be  highly  important,  and  the 
responsibility  of  a  right  treatment  of  it  very  weighty. 
Several  Friends  expressed  desires  that  it  might  be  faith- 
fully and  honestly  gone  into.  Our  aged  friend  Hinch- 
man  Haines  expressed  his  sense  of  the  great  importance 
of  the  occasion,  and  its  intimate  connection  with  the 
welfare  of  the  Society  at  large,  and  warned  against  the 
spirit,  so  prevalent  in  some,  to  compromise.  Christopher 
Healy  (who,  in  his  seventy-fifth  year,  had  come  to  the 
city  to  attend  the  committee,  through  much  bodily  weak- 
ness and  suffering,  having  within  a  few  days  fallen  from 
the  top  of  a  loaded  farm  wagon)  united  with  these  re- 
marks, exhorting  to  a  faithful  honest  discharge  of  the 
important  trust  devolved  on  the  committee.  The  Gur- 
ney  members  of  the  committee,  however,  wished  to  limit 
the  examination  to  the  written  Epistles  of  the  two  bodies, 
addressed  to  us ;  but  this  was  shown  to  be  entirely  inade- 
quate to  enable  the  committee  to  fulfil  the  injunction  of 
the  Yearly  Meeting,  to  examine  into  the  circumstances 
and  causes  of  the  separation.  Henry  Cope  said  that  the 
committee  ought  to  be  governed  by  the  same  rule  that 
governs  judicial  examinations,  viz.,  "  the  truth,  the  whole 
truth,  and  nothing  but  the  truth,"  with  an  openness  to 


1848.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


137 


receive  all  evidence  necessary  for  an  arrival  at  the  truth. 
Daniel  B.  Smith  wished  all  to  approach  the  investigation 
with  minds  divested  of  any  preconceived  opinions,  and 
willing  to  judge,  as  jurymen,  according  to  the  evidence. 
Ebenezer  Roberts  followed  him,  with  a  testimony  to  the 
need  of  the  wisdom  of  man  being  laid  low,  and  of  our 
humbly  seeking  to  be  enlightened  by  the  Holy  Spirit, 
in  order  to  be  qualified  to  judge  righteous  judgment — 
reviving  the  saying  of  Christ  to  Peter, — "  Flesh  and 
blood  hath  not  revealed  this  unto  thee,  but  my  Father 
which  is  in  heaven;"  and  exhorting  all  to  gather  to  that 
Spirit  of  judgment  which  alone  could  rightly  qualify,  so 
that  whatsoever  the  church  should  bind  on  earth  might 
be  bound  in  heaven.  Samuel  Hilles  said  that  having 
been  present  [with  John  Pease]  at  the  time  of  the  sepa- 
ration in  New  England  Yearly  Meeting  itself,  he  was 
entirely  settled  in  his  own  mind  ;  and  believing  in  the 
entire  accuracy  and  authority  of  the  documents  issued 
by  the  "  Larger  Body,"  and  knowing  them  to  have  been 
properly  signed  by  "  the  regular  clerk,"  he  as  an  indi- 
vidual did  not  wish  to  hear  any  other  statements  than 
those  issued  by  the  body  with  whom  we  had  always  cor- 
responded. He  would  not,  however,  throw  any  difficulty 
in  the  way  of  others,  being  willing  that  Friends  should 
get  "  once  more  into  the  track,"  so  that  we  might  "  get 
along."  He  was  answered  by  D.  B.  Smith,  that  the 
matter  which  he  had  represented  as  being  entirely  settled 
in  his  own  mind,  was  the  very  question  at  issue. 

At  this  sitting  and  one  the  next  day,  the  various  doc- 
uments prominently  bearing  on  the  subject  were  read 
before  the  committee;  and  after  much  discussion  in  re- 
gard to  future  modes  of  proceeding,  a  sub-committee  of 


138 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN       [CHAP.  X. 


five  was  named,  to  digest  the  whole  subject  and  prepare 
a  report.  During  this  discussion,  Enoch  Lewis  and 
Israel  W.  Morris  objected  to  any  examination  of  the 
disciplinary  proceedings  of  another  Yearly  Meeting; 
but  Henry  Cope  urged  the  necessity  of  such  examination, 
in  order  to  develop  the  origin  of  the  separation;  and  de- 
clared that  it  was  evident  from  the  "Narrative"  put 
forth  by  the  "  Larger  Body  "  itself,  that  they  had  been 
guilty  of  acts  not  only  at  variance  with  their  own  Dis- 
cipline and  the  usages  of  the  Society,  but  of  such  an 
outrageous  character  as  to  be  disgraceful  to  any  body  of 
men.  William  Evans  said  that  we  could  only  collect 
the  facts,  and  state  what  each  party  had  done — that  it 
might  perhaps  appear  that  both  parties  had  acted  wrong 
— and  he  should  sincerely  rejoice  if  they  could,  in  that 
case,  be  convinced  of  the  wrong,  and  become  reconciled 
to  each  other — that  it  would  be  a  happy  thing  if  this 
Yearly  Meeting  could  be  instrumental  in  bringing  such 
a  thing  about — he  lamented  this  so  frequent  example  of 
separation.  Daniel  B.  Smith,  apparently  aware  of  the 
weakness  characterizing  these  remarks  under  existing 
circumstances,  said  that  no  reconciliation  could  be  effec- 
tual, but  such  as  should  go  to  the  bottom  of  the  evil — 
that  a  wound,  before  it  could  be  healed,  must  be  probed 
to  the  bottom — else  we  should  only  be  plastering  it  over, 
and  making  it  worse  instead  of  better.  Morris  Cope 
said  that  Truth  was  never  afraid  of  investigation,  but 
it  was  he  that  did  evil  that  hated  the  light,  lest  his  deeds 
should  be  reproved.  Enoch  Lewis  felt  wounded  at  this, 
taking  it  as  a  personal  allusion.  But  Christopher  Healy 
hoped  Friends  would  keep  low  and  sweet  in  their  spirits, 
looking  to  the  Master,  and  keeping  the  Lord  at  their 


1848.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


139 


right  hand — that  as  soon  as  he  awoke  that  morning,  his 
mind  was  impressed  with  the  saying  of  David,  "I  will 
place  the  Lord  always  before  mine  eyes  ;  because  he  is 
at  my  right  hand,  I  shall  not  be  moved" — and  he  be- 
lieved that  as  we  kept  our  own  spirits  down,  and  kept 
the  Lord  on  our  right  hand,  we  should  be  preserved, 
and  the  great  Master  would  yet  be  known  to  be  a  "spirit 
of  judgment  to  them  that  sit  in  judgment,  and  for 
strength  to  them  that  turn  the  battle  to  the  gate."  And 
then  portraying  the  fruits  of  faithfulness,  he  exhorted 
Friends  to  submit  to  have  their  own  wills  brought  down, 
and  faithfully  to  obey  the  dictates  of  Best  Wisdom. 
Deep  silence  followed  ;  till  Israel  W.  Morris  expressed 
that  he  did  think  he  was  willing  to  submit  to  divine  di- 
rection ;  but  urgently  objected  to  proceeding  as  proposed, 
or  meddling  with  another  Yearly  Meeting's  disciplinary 
transactions.  A  younger  Friend  then  said,  "that  he 
believed  that  if  Friends  would  be  faithful  to  the  point- 
ings of  Truth,  we  need  not  fear  the  consequences — that 
indeed  the  only  safe  way  appeared  to  him  to  be,  for  us 
to  endeavor  to  know  the  mind  of  Truth,  and  then  firmly 
to  pursue  that  course,  leaving  results  to  Him  who  can 
control  all  to  the  welfare  of  his  church — that  he  believed 
this  committee  would  be  greatly  wanting  to  its  duty,  if 
they  neglected  to  avail  themselves  of  all  the  important 
evidence  necessary  to  a  correct  knowledge  of  the  case — 
that  the  originators  of  this  difficulty  in  New  England 
had  taken  the  ground  that  doctrine*  were  not  to  be  in- 
vestigated, and  now  we  were  told  that  discipline  was  not 
to  be  investigated — and  if  we  followed  such  advice  there 
could  of  course  be  no  investigation  at  all."  After  some 
further  discussion,  the  sub-committee  was  appointed; 


140 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN       [CHAP.  X. 


viz.,  William  Evans,  Henry  Cope,  Charles  Evans,  Dan- 
iel B.  Smith,  and  William  Hodgson. 

This  sub-committee  was  diligently  engaged  through 
the  winter  and  early  spring,  and  had  many  laborious 
and  exercising  opportunities  together,  before  the  pro- 
posed report  was  fully  matured.  But  at  length,  after 
struggling  through  many  difficulties  and  obstacles 
thrown  in  the  way  by  those  who  desired  to  deprive  it 
of  its  efficacy  and  clearness,  and  submitting  to  some 
very  undesirable  changes  in  order  to  save  it  from  falling 
through  altogether,  the  committee  at  large  was  able  to 
present  it  to  the  Meeting  for  Sufferings.  That  meeting 
fully  adopted  it,  though  with  strong  opposition  on  the 
part  of  the  Gurney  portion  of  the  members,  and  directed 
it  to  the  ensuing  Yearly  Meeting. 

In  this  report  was  a  detailed  statement,  gathered 
mainly,  as  to  the  facts,  from  the  "Narrative"  of  the 
"  Larger  Body ;"  their  own  account,  when  compared 
with  the  statement  of  the  same  facts  by  the  "Smaller 
Body,"  appearing  sufficient  to  prove  all  that  was  really 
essential  to  a  development  of  the  causes  and  progress  of 
the  actual  schism.  It  contained  also  a  statement  of  the 
manner  in  which  those  facts  were  viewed  or  attempted 
to  be  justified  by  each  party;  and  concluded  with  the 
expression  of  the  committee's  own  judgment,  which  it 
submitted  to  the  Yearly  Meeting,  in  relation  to  the 
character  of  these  transactions,  their  bearing  on  the  sepa- 
ration, and  the  responsibility  of  those  concerned  in  them, 
for  the  breach  of  unity  which  was  thus  so  sorrowfully 
brought  about.  The  following  is  their  judgment  on  the 
case,  as  expressed  in  the  Report.  Its  great  importance 
will  justify  the  length  of  the  quotation. 


1849.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


141 


"Such  is  a  concise  statement  of  the  facts  contained  in  the 
Documents  which  have  been  submitted  to  us,  and  of  the 
light  in  which  the  two  parties  respectively  view  them.  Two 
sets  of  epistles  have  been  presented  to  the  Yearly  Meeting, 
both  from  bodies  which  assert  that  they  maintain,  in  their 
original  purity,  the  doctrines,  testimonies,  and  discipline 
of  the  Society.  The  subject  is  therefore  placed  before  us  for 
consideration  without  any  agency  of  ours,  and  common 
Justice;  and  the  cause  of  Truth  demand  that  the  claims  of 
each  should  be  impartially  examined. 

"  Although  each  Yearly  Meeting  is  the  judge  of  its  owu 
discipline,  there  is  an  understood  and  implied  necessity 
of  conforming  in  its  decisions  to  principles  of  religious 
duty  and  Christian  doctrine,  of  civil  liberty  and  constitu- 
tional right,  common  to  us  all,  and  always  acknowledged 
and  held  as  inviolable  by  us.  For  we  are  one  people  the 
world  over.  The  right  of  membership  in  one  Yearly  Meet- 
ing, is  a  right  of  membership  —  when  duly  conveyed  by 
certificate — in  all.  A  member,  let  him  belong  where  he 
may7,  has  the  right  of  attending  meetings  for  transacting 
the  ordinary  affairs  of  the  Society,  wherever  they  are  held. 
When,  therefore,  as  in  the  present  case,  two  bodies  come 
before  a  Yearly  Meeting,  both  under  the  same  title,  and 
each  claiming  to  be  the  co-ordinate  branch  of  the  Society 
bearing  that  name,  it  becomes  its  duty,  under  the  guidance 
of  Divine  Wisdom,  to  inquire  into  the  circumstances  of  the 
case,  so  that  it  may  not  withhold  from  those  to  whom  they 
belong,  the  precious  rights  and  privileges  which  membership 
in  our  Society  confers. 

"From  the  statements  put  forth  by  both  bodies,  it  appears 
clear  to  us  that  important  principles  and  usages  of  the 
Society,  as  well  as  private  rights,  have  been  disregarded  in 
the  progress  of  the  transactions  therein  recorded.  Some  of 
the  more  prominent  points,  in  which  this  has  been  done, 
appear  to  us  to  be  the  following,  viz.: 

"  First.  In  the  attempt  to  procure  the  disownment  of  a 
minister  in  the  Society  [John  Wilbur],  upon  an  accusation 
of  detraction,  and  upon  other  charges,  based  upon  or  grow- 


142 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN      [CHAP.  X. 


"ing  out  of  his  endeavors,  in  accordance  with  what  he  be- 
lieved to  be  his  religious  duty,  to  prevent  the  reception  and 
"  spread  of  sentiments  contained  in  printed  doctrinal  works, 
"written  and  published  by  a  Friend  from  England  [.T.J. 
"Gurney].  then  in  this  country;  which  sentiments,  in  com- 
"mon  with  man}-  other  Friends,  he  believed  to  be  opposed  to 
"the  acknowledged  doctrines  of  the  Society. 

"  Every  man  has  the  natural  and  religious  right  to  express 
"his  honest  opinions,  in  a  proper  spirit  and  manner,  upon 
"an)'  public  sentiment  which  he  approves  or  disapproves.  If 
"he  spreads  opinions  in  opposition  to  the  principles  of  the 
"  religious  society  to  which  he  belongs,  he  is  liable  to  excom- 
"munication  for  a  departure  from  its  faith.  But  to  attempt 
"to  bring  a  man  under  censure  for  defending  the  Society 
"  against  error,  by  warning  the  members  against  the  unsound- 
"ness  of  certain  published  works,  not  only  violates  a  plain 
"  unquestionable  right,  but  would  be  censuring  him  for  the 
"  faithful  discharge  of  his  religious  duty  as  a  watchman,  and 
"  giving  support  to  opinions  which  as  a  bod}-  the  Society  en- 
"  tirety  disapproves.  The  object  of  our  Christian  compact  is  to 
"  bear  testimony  to  the  truth  and  against  error;  to  comfort 
"and  strengthen  one  another  in  a  faithful  adherence  to  the 
"truth,  through  the  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  that  by  sound 
"  doctrine  and  a  consistent  example  we  may  convince  gain- 
"sayers,  and  that  the  kingdom  of  Christ  may  prevail  over 
"darkness  and  error  in  the  earth.  In  a  work  on  church 
"government,  written  b\-  Robert  Barclay,  and  owned  b}'  the 
"  Society  every  where,  these  views  are  held  forth.  He  says: 
"  '  We  being  gathered  together  into  the  belief  of  certain  prin- 
" '  ciples  and  doctrines,  without  any  constraint  or  worldly 
"  1  respect,  but  by  the  mere  force  of  truth  upon  our  under- 
"' standings,  and  its  power  and  influence  upon  our  hearts ; 
"  '  these  principles  and  doctrines,  and  the  practices  necessarily 
" '  depending  upon  them,  are  as  it  were  the  terms  that  have 
'"drawn  us  together,  and  the  bond  by  which  we  became 
"'centred  into  one  body  and  fellowship,  and  distinguished 
"'from  others.  Xow  if  any  one  or  more,  so  engaged  with 
'"us, should  arise  to  teach  any  doctrine  or  doctrines  contrary 


1849.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


143 


" '  to  those  which  were  the  (/round  of  our  being  one,  who  can 
"  '  deny  but  the  body  hath  power  in  such  a  case  to  declare, 
"  '  this  is  not  according  to  the  truth  we  profess,  and  we,  there- 
"  'fore,  pronounce  such  and  such  doctrines  to  be  wrong,  with 
"'which  we  can  have  no  unity,  nor  any  more  spiritual 
'"  fellowship  with  those  that  hold  them,  and  so  cut  them- 
"  'selves  oft*  from  being  members,  by  dissolving  the  very  bond 
'"by  which  we  were  linked  together.' 

"This  is  a  plain  declaration  of  the  powers  of  the  Society, 
"and  of  the  reasonableness  of  exercising  these  powers,  and 
"that  a  departure  in  doctrine  breaks  the  bond  which  had 
"united  the  party  to  the  Society.  After  expressing  the  same 
"sentiments  on  the  next  page,  Barclay  contends  that  it  is  the 
''duty  of  all  the  members  to  protest  against  every  departure 
"from  its  faith.  He  says:  'Have  not  such  as  stand,  good 
"  'right  to  cast  such  an  one  out  from  among  them,  and  to 
"'pronounce  positively,  this  is  contrary  to  the  truth  we 
"'profess  and  own,  and  ought  therefore  to  be  rejected  and 
"  '  not  received,  nor  yet  he  that  asserts  it,  as  one  of  us.  And 
"'is  not  this  obligatory  upon  all  the  members,  seeing  all 
"'are  concerned  in  the  like  care,  as  to  themselves,  to  hold 
"  'the  right  and  shut  out  the  wrong?  I  cannot  tell  if  any 
"  '  man  of  reason  can  well  deny  this.'  Again  he  says:  'In 
"  'short,  if  we  must  preserve  and  keep  those  that  are  come  to 
"  '  own  the  truth,  by  the  same  means  they  were  gathered  and 
"  'brought  into  it,  we  must  not  cease  to  be  plain  with  them, 
'"and  tell  them  when  they  are  wrong,  and  by  sound  doc- 
"  '  trine  both  exhort  and  convince  gainsayers.' 

"  If  unsouud  doctrines  are  not  to  be  testified  against,  and 
"the  ftock  warned  of  their  pernicious  influence,  but  the  con- 
"  sistent  exercised  members  are  to  be  accused  of  detraction, 
"when  they  declare  their  dissent  from  published  errors,  then 
"  '  farewell  to  the  maintenance  of  any  sound  doctrine  in  the 
"  Church  of  Christ. '  This  would  he  an  inlet  to  the  greatest 
"innovations,  and  in  time  might  overturn  the  Society.  How 
"would  it  be  possible  for  ministers  of  the  gospel,  and  other 
"  religiously  concerned  members,  to  discharge  their  duty  as 
"watchmen,  if  they  are  forbidden  to  warn  the  flock  of  sur- 


144 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN       [CHAP.  X. 


"rounding  danger,  arising  from  erroneous  doctrinal  works? 
"  The  most  substantial  Friends  in  this  land  nobly  and  firmly 
"testified  against  the  errors  of  Elias  Hicks,  both  publicly  and 
'•  privately,  even  while  he  travelled  with  certificates  as  a  min- 
"ister;  and  they  were  instrumental  in  guarding  many  from 
"  imbibing  his  unsound  sentiments. 

"  Second.  In  a  committee  of  the  Yearly  Meeting  summon- 
"  ing  a  member  [J.  W.]  before  it  to  answer  certain  charges 
"  made  by  it,  dealing  with  him  as  an  offender,  and  requiring 
"him  to  make  concessions  to  them,  and  endeavoring  to  in- 
"duce  him  to  sign  a  written  acknowledgment,  drawn  up  by 
"  a  part  of  their  own  body. 

"The  right  to  treat  with  their  members,  and  to  disown  or 
"  to  accept  acknowledgments  from  them  for  their  errors,  be- 
"  longs  exclusively  to  the  Mont  lily  Meetings,  under  certain 
"  rules  prescribed  by  the  Discipline.  Even  when  a  Quarterly 
"Meeting  appoints  a  committee  to  be  incorporated  with  a 
"  wreak  Monthly  Meeting  for  the  support  of  the  discipline, 
"  the  members  of  the  committee,  when  named  in  the  latter 
"  meeting  to  treat  with  offenders,  do  not  serve  as  a  committee 
"of  the  Quarterly,  but  of  the  Monthly  Meeting,  having  no 
"more  power  than  any  other  members  of  it.  And  it  is,  we 
"think,  altogether  incompatible  with  the  station  which  a 
"Yearly  Meeting  holds  in  the  Society,  and  with  universal 
"practice,  for  that  body,  either  itself  or  through  its  commit- 
"  tees,  to  attempt  to  deal  with  a  member  as  an  offender.  For 
"as  it  is  the  highest  body  to  which  an  appeal  can  be  made 
"against  the  decisions  of  inferior  meetings,  the  application 
"  to  it  for  redress  must  be  in  vain,  if  it  has  already  made  itself 
"a  party  and  prejudged  the  case. 

"  Third.  In  the  same  committee's  drawing  up  a  charge 
"  against  a  member,  bringing  it  immediately  before  his  Monthly 
"  Meeting,  and  insisting  upon  its  being  recorded  on  the  min- 
"  utes,  against  the  urgent  request  of  the  accused  that  it  should 
"be  previously  investigated  ;  thereby  assuming  to  itself  func- 
"  tious  which  rightfully  belong  to  the  overseers  and  to  the 
"  Preparative  Meeting. 

"The  right  of  an  accused  person  to  have  a  charge  against 


1849.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


145 


"him  brought  before  the  overseers  or  the  Preparative  Meet- 
"ing,  is  of  essential  importance.  There  he  has  the  liberty  of 
"  attending  and  of  meeting  the  charge  before  it  is  permanently 
"recorded,  and  if  he  should  convince  the  overseers  or  the 
"  meeting  that  it  is  unfounded,  or  if  it  can  be  settled  without 
'"  going  to  the  Monthly  Meeting,  the  matter  would  end  with- 
"out  any  record  to  hand  his  name  down  to  posterity  with 
"discredit.  Whereas  his  rigflts  as  a  member  are  virtually 
"suspended,  so  long  as  a  charge  against  him  remains  unset- 
"  tied  on  the  records  of  the  Monthly  Meeting.  We  should 
"regard  such  a  proceeding  in  our  own  Yearly  Meeting  as  an 
"  unconstitutional  exercise  of  power,  dangerous  to  the  peace 
"and  subversive  of  the  established  order  of  the  Society. 

"  Fourth.  In  the  same  committee's  bringing  the  power  and 
"authority  of  the  Yearly  Meeting  to  bear  upon  the  Monthly 
"Meeting,  by  claiming  the  right  to  join  the  committee  of  the 
"latter  in  treating  with  the  Friend  [J.  W.]  and  refusing  to 
"him  the  right  of  opening  and  explaining  what  he  alleged  to 
"  be  the  ground  on  which  he  had  acted  in  the  discharge  of  an 
"apprehended  duty.  The  members  of  the  Yearly  Meeting's 
"committee  had  neither  been  incorporated  with  the  Monthly 
"  Meeting  nor  appointed  to  deal  with  the  member.  Their  pre- 
senting themselves  in  this  anomalous  manner,  seemed  to 
"show  a  determination  to  carry  a  purpose  respecting  the 
"  Friend,  without  regard  to  the  usages  and  order  of  the  Soci- 
"  ety  or  the  rights  of  the  Meeting.  Where  a  member's  char- 
acter and  privileges  are  at  stake,  the  spirit  and  uniform 
"  practice  of  our  Discipline  require  the  greatest  liberality  to 
"be  shown  in  allowing  him  time  and  any  arguments  or  ex- 
planations he  thinks  necessary  to  his  defence  Were  he 
"denied  the  opportunity  of  producing  evidence  to  clear  hini- 
"  self,  such  denial  would  quash  the  proceedings  against  him, 
"  in  an  appeal  before  an  impartial  tribunal ;  for  the  great 
"object  in  the  administration  of  Church  Discipline  is,  not  to 
"  criminate  but  to  convince  and  reclaim  those  who  have  erred  ; 
"  and  if  that  cannot  be  done,  to  leave  no  ground  for  charging 
"the  church  with  harshness  or  injustice 

"  Fifth.  In  the  same  committee's  objecting  at  a  subsequent 
VOL    II.  — 1-3 


146 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FEIENDS  IN       [CHAP.  X. 


"  Monthly  Meeting  to  the  reception  and  adoption  of  a  report 
"signed  by  seven  of  the  committee  who  had  investigated  the 
"case  and  declared  that  the  charges  had  not  been  sustained  ; 
"  while  they  advised  the  reading  of  a  report  of  an  opposite 
"character  signed  by  two  of  the  Monthly  Meeting's  com- 
"  mittee,  although  it  was  strongly  objected  to  in  the  meeting. 

"  Such  a  proceeding  in  treating  with  offenders  is,  we  think, 
"contrary  to  any  practice  in  the  Society  that  we  have  ever 
"  been  acquainted  with  ;  the  principle  governing  in  such  cases, 
"  being,  that  of  leaning  to  the  side  of  mercy  and  forbearance. 

"  Sixth.  In  the  attempt  made  first,  by  the  Quarterly  Meet- 
"  ing's  committee,  and  afterwards  by  the  Quarterly  Meeting 
"  itself,  to  render  null  and  void  the  minute  of  South  Kingston 
"  Monthly  Meeting  which  accepted  the  report  in  the  case  of 
"  the  Friend  alluded  to,  dismissed  the  charge  against  him,  and 
"  I'estored  him  to  alibis  rights  as  a  member  and  minister ; 
"  and  in  afterwards  taking  up  his  case  by  another  Montbly 
"  Meeting  on  the  same  charge,  and  there  disowning  him  with- 
"  out  even  going  through  the  regular  course  prescribed  by  the 
"  Discipline. 

"  It  is  a  great  maxim  of  law  and  justice,  that  where  a  man 
"has  been  tried  and  acquitted,  he  cannot  be  again  tried  for 
"  the  same  offence.  When,  therefore,  Rhode  Island  Quarterly 
"  Meeting  set  aside  the  minute  in  the  case  alluded  to,  and 
"directed  a  new  trial,  it  violated  what  must  ever  be  held  to 
"  be  a  fundamental  principle  in  the  administration  of  justice. 
"The  only  reasons  assigned  for  this  decision,  were  certain 
"appointments  made  in  the  Monthly  Meeting,  which  it  was 
"clearly  within  the  power  of  that  meeting  to  make,  which 
"appointments  had  been  recognized  as  valid  by  the  Yearly 
"and  Quarterly  Meetings'  committees,  and  for  which  the 
"individual  was  in  no  way  responsible. 

"  South  Kingston  Monthly  Meeting  being  laid  down,  and 
"its  members  joined  to  Greenwich  Monthly  Meeting,  con- 
"  trary  to  the  course  prescribed  by  the  Discipline  of  New  Eng- 
"land  Yearly  Meeting;  the  latter  [Monthly]  meeting,  five 
"months  after  the  case  had  been  closed,  and  the  member  fully 
"acquitted  by  his  own  Montbly  Meeting,  and  thereby,  accord- 


1849.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


147 


"ing  to  the  admission  of  both  parties,  'restored  to  member- 
'•  ship,'  took  his  case  upon  its  minutes,  called  for  a  report 
"from  the  committee  originally  appointed  in  South  Kingston 
"  Monthly  Meeting,  and  at  the  next  meeting  received  a  report 
"signed  by  two  of  that  committee,  similar  in  all  respects  to 
"that  made  live  months  before  to  South  Kingston  Monthly 
"  Meeting  by  the  same  two  members  of  the  committee  of  nine, 
"and  which  was  rejected  by  it;  and  in  a  summary  manner 
"  immediately  disowned  the  individual  without  his  having 
"met  the  committee  again,  or  the  whole  committee  having 
"been  together. 

"The  Society  of  Friends  has  always  guarded  with  scrupu- 
"  lous  care,  the  rights  of  its  members.  It  has  carefully  avoided 
"seeking  to  make  a  man  an  offender  ;  and  even  when  a  Friend 
"  has  directly  violated  the  Discipline,  if  he  has  not  been  treated 
"with  and  disowned  in  strict  conformity  with  its  provisions 
"and  order,  he  is,  where  justice  is  done  to  him,  reinstated  on 
"  his  appeal  It  is  an  acknowledged  principle  among  Friends, 
"  that  it  is  better  an  offender  should  escape  disownment,  than 
"that  bis  rights,  guaranteed  by  the  Discipline,  should  be  dis- 
"  regarded.  For  if  meetings  and  committees  do  not  keep  to 
"the  Discipline  themselves,  under  the  direction  of  the  Head 
"  of  the  Clmrch,  on  what  right  ground  can  an  individual  be 
"  disowned  for  his  error  ?  We  therefore  regard  the  whole  pro- 
"  ceedinej  as  at  variance  with  the  organization  and  discipline  of 
"  the  Society.* 

"  Seventh.  In  disregarding  the  provisions  of  the  Discipline 
"of  New  England  Yearly  Meeting,  in  the  manner  of  laying 
"down  South  Kingston  Monthly  Meeting,  by  Rhode  Island 
"Quarter,  and  attaching  its  members  to  Greenwich  Monthly 
"  Meeting. 

"That  Discipline  prescribes  the  following  course  to  be  pur- 
"  sued  in  such  a  case  :  '  When  a  Quarterly  Meeting  hath  come 
"  '  to  a  judgment  respecting  any  difference,  relative  to  any 
"  •  Monthly  Meeting  belonging  to  them,  and  notified  the  same 
"'in  writing  to  such  Monthly  Meeting,  the  said  Monthly 

*  These,  and  most  of  the  subsequent  words  in  italics  in  this  quotation,  are  put 
so  by  the  present  writer. 


148 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN       [CHAP.  X. 


"  '  Meeting  ought  to  submit  to  the  judgment  of  the  Quarterly 
"  '  Meeting  ;  but  if  such  Monthly  Meeting  shall  not  be  satis- 
"  '  tied  therewith,  then  the  Monthly  Meeting  may  appeal  to 
"  '  the  Yearly  Meeting,  against  the  judgment  and  determina- 
"  '  tion  of  the  Quarterly  Meeting. 

"  '  And  if  a  Monthly  Meeting  shall  refuse  to  take  the  advice 
"  'and  submit  to  the  judgment  of  the  Quarterly  Meeting  and 
"  'notwithstanding  will  not  appeal  against  the  determination 
"  '  of  the  said  meeting,  to  the  Yearly  Meeting;  in  such  case, 
"  'the  Quarterly  Meeting  shall  be  at  liberty  either  to  dissolve 
"  'such  Monthly  Meeting,  or  bring  the  affair  before  the  next 
"  'or  succeeding  Yearly  Meeting. 

"  '  And  in  case  a  Quarterly  Meeting  shall  dissolve  a  Monthly 
"'Meeting,  the  dissolved  Monthly  Meeting,  or  any  part 
"  '  thereof,  in  the  name  of  the  said  meeting,  shall  be  at  liberty 
"  '  to  appeal  to  the  next  or  succeeding  Yearly  Meeting,  against 
"  '  such  dissolution  ;  but  if  the  dissolved  Monthly  Meeting,  or 
"  '  a  part  thereof  in  its  behalf,  shall  n<>l  appeal  to  the  Yearly 
"  'Meeting,  the  Quarterly  Meeting  shall  join  the  members  of 
"'the  said  late  Monthly  Meeting,  to  such  other  Monthly 
"'Meeting  as  they  may  think  most  convenient;  and  until 
"'such  time,  shall  take  care  that  no  inconvenience  doth 
"  'thereby  ensue  to  the  members  of  such  dissolved  meeting, 
"  'respecting  any  branch  of  our  Discipline.'  Rules  of  Disci- 
pline, etc.,  1820,  pp.  118,  11!). 

"  This,  to  us,  appears  clear  and  explicit,  rendering  it  neces- 
"  sary  for  the  Quarterly  Meeting,  first  to  come  to  a  judgment 
"  in  relation  to  the  difficulty  existing  in  the  Monthly  Meeting, 
"proposed  to  be  laid  down,  and  to  communicate  that  judg- 
"  ment  to  it  in  writing ;  and  then  to  ascertain  whether  the 
"meeting,  or  any  portion  of  its  members,  intend  to  appeal 
"from  that  judgment,  prior  to  proceeding  to  dissolve  that 
"  meeting  and  to  attach  the  members  of  the  Monthly  Meeting 
"to  another.  Now  unless  we  admit  the  assumption  that  the 
"  advice  of  a  committee,  or  of  a  small  part  of  a  committee,  is 
"equivalent  to  the  recorded  judgment  of  the  meeting  which 
"appoints  it  (an  assumption  which  would  totally  change  the 
"long-established  practice  of  the  Society),  we  think  it  clear 


1849.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


149 


"  that  this  portion  of  Discipline  was  disregarded  in  the  disso- 
"  lotion  of  South  Kingston  Monthly  Meeting  and  the  disposal 
"of  its  members;  for  that  meeting  had  received  no  written 
"judgment  from  the  Quarterly  Meeting  in  the  case,  until  it 
"  received  the  minute  by  which  it  was  declared  to  be  dissolved  ; 
"and  at  the  same  time,  before  the  Quarterly  Meeting  could 
"have  known  whether  the  Monthly  Meeting,  or  any  part  of 
"the  members,  would  appeal  from  that  judgment,  they  were 
"  joined  to  Greenwich  Monthly  Meeting  ;  and  the  latter  meet- 
"ing  forthwith  proceeded  to  exercise  jurisdiction  over  them, 
"in  direct  violation  of  their  rights,  as  guaranteed  by  the  Dis- 
"  cipline. 

"  Eighth .  In  the  manner  in  which  the  members  of  the  Quar- 
"  terly  Meeting's  committee  interfered  to  produce  a  separation- 
"  in  Swauzey  Monthly  Meeting. 

"The  accounts  given  by  both  parties  of  the  Monthly  Meet- 
"  ing  of  Swanzey,  at  which  the  separation  took  place,  agree 
"in  stating,  that  although  the  clerk  of  the  meeting  (whom 
"both  acknowledge  to  have  been  in  that  station,  when  the 
"meeting  adjourned  the  month  before)  had  taken  his  seat  at 
"  the  table,  the  whole  transaction  of  proposing  a  new  clerk  by 
"one  who  was  not  a  member  of  the  meeting,  his  being  united 
"  with  by  a  part  of  the  members  and  by  others  who  were  not 
"members,  and  the  Friend  proposed  proceeding  to  act  as 
"clerk,  was  consummated  before  any  minute  opening  the 
"meeting  had  been  made,  or  any  minute  from  the  Quarterly 
"  Meeting  read.  Now  we  think  it  undeniable,  that  no  portion 
"  of  the  members  of  a  Monthly  Meeting,  even  supposing  them 
"to  be  a  greater  number,  which  in  this  instance  does  not 
"appear  to  have  been  the  case,  could  be  justified  in  thus  act- 
"ing;  but  that  they  must  by  such  an  act,  subject  themselves 
"to  all  the  consequences  of  separating  from  their  Monthly 
"  Meeting  and  setting  up  a  meeting  unauthorized  by  the  Dis- 
"  cipline  And  those  members  who  thus  separated  from  Swan- 
"  zey  Monthly  Meeting,  cannot  plead  the  authority  of  the 
"Quarterly  Meeting  for  the  course  they  pursued,  inasmuch  as 
"those  who  proposed  it  and  assisted  therein,  had  exhibited  no 
"minute  from  that  meeting,  directing  the  Monthly  Meeting 


150 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN       [CHAP.  X. 


"to  be  reorganized,  and  clothing  them  with  power  to  act  in 
"the  case.  To  us,  therefore,  it  appears  clear,  that  the  meet- 
"ing  which,  with  its  old  clerk  at  the  table,  proceeded  in  the 
"transaction  of  its  business  after  the  others  had  adjourned, 
"in  no  way  lost  its  standing  as  Swanzey  Monthly  Meeting, 
"and  that  the  others  separated  from  it;  and  that  those  who,  in 
"Rhode  Island  Quarterly  Meeting,  received  the  report  from 
"  the  latter,  and  rejected  that  from  the  former,  identified  them- 
"  selves  with  the  separate  meeting. 

"  The  Discipline  points  out  the  course  to  be  pursued  where 
"  a  Monthly  Meeting  is  refractory  and  unwilling  to  take  the 
"advice  of  its  superior  meeting,  regularly  conveyed  to  it,  but 
"  it  nowhere  clothes  a  Quarterly  Meeting  with  the  power  to 
"  select  clerks  and  overseers  for  its  subordinate  meetings,  and 
"  to  oblige  these  meetings  to  accept  and  appoint  them. 

"  The  acts  to  which  we  have  now  referred,  we  believe  to  be 
"  the  most  prominent  among  the  causes  that  produced  the  sep- 
"  aration  in  New  England  Yearly  Meeting  in  1845.  The  man- 
"ner  in  which  that  separation  was  effected  is,  we  presume, 
"known  by  most,  if  not  all  our  members.  Many  of  those 
"  who  now  constitute  the  Smaller  Body  in  New  England, 
"thought  that  the  Yearly  Meeting  was  not  authorized  sud- 
"denly  to  suspend  the  important  rule  of  Discipline  which  re- 
quires the  representatives  to  meet  at  the  conclusion  of  the 
"  first  sitting  and  agree  upon  a  clerk  for  the  year,  and  report 
"the  same  to  the  adjournment.  Four  of  the  representatives 
"thus  thinking,  together  with  those  appointed  by  one  of  the 
"bodies  claiming  to  be  Rhode  Island  Quarterly  Meeting,  met 
"  and  agreed  upon  Friends  to  be  nominated  for  clerk  and 
"  assistant.  Upon  these  names  being  proposed  in  the  after- 
"  noon  sitting,  and  being  united  with  by  some  and  disapproved 
"by  more,  the  separation  which  now  exists,  immediately  fot 
"lowed. 

"Although  the  manner  in  which  this  separation  was  effected 
"  was  not  such  as,  we  think,  affords  a  precedent  safe  to  be  fol- 
lowed in  the  organization  of  a  Yearly  Meeting,  yet  inasmuch 
"as  those  Friends  who  compose  the  Smaller  Body  appear  to 
"  have  acted  from  a  sincere  desire  to  maintain  the  doctrines 


1849.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


151 


"and  discipline  of  the  Society,  and  the  rights  secured  by  it 
"  to  all  its  members  ;  and  had  been  subjected  to  proceedings 
"  oppressive  in  their  character,  and  in  violation  of  the  acknowl- 
edged principles  of  our  church  government,  we  believe  that 
"they  continue  to  be  entitled  to  the  rights  of  membership, 
"and  to  such  acknowledgment  by  their  brethren  as  maybe 
"necessary  for  securing  the  enjoyment  of  those  rights. 

"The  obstruction  which  exists  in  our  Yearly  Meeting,  to 
"  the  holding  of  a  correspondence  with  that  body  in  New  Eng- 
"land  which  has  authorized  or  sustained  the  proceedings  upon 
"which  we  have  animadverted,  does  not  arise  from  any  feel- 
ings of  hostility  to  them,  nor  from  partiality  to  any  man, 
"  but  from  a  conscientious  belief  that  whatever  may  have  been 
"  the  motive,  their  acts  have  gone  to  condemn  many  who  have 
"been  standing  for  the  ancient  faith  of  Friends  and  against 
"  the  introduction  of  error  ;  that,  in  so  doing,  wrong  opinions 
"have  received  support,  and  the  discipline  and  rights  of  mem- 
"  hers  have  been  violated  ;  and  that  it  was  the  course  pursued 
"by  them  in  these  transactions  which  led  to  the  separation. 
"Until,  therefore,  those  proceedings  shall  be  rectified  or  an- 
"  nulled,  we  see  not  how  unit}'  is  to  be  restored." 

The  reader  of  this  Report  will  observe  the  full  and  lucid 
statement  given  of  the  circumstances  attending  the  sepa- 
rations of  the  Monthly  and  Quarterly  Meetings,  and 
that  the  judgment  of  the  committee  was  unmistakably 
in  favor  of  the  claims  of  the  Monthly  and  Quarterly 
Meetings  of  the  "  Smaller  Body,"  to  be  the  true  meet- 
ings of  Friends.  All  the  irregular  transactions  com- 
jnented  upon  were  the  deeds  of  the  larger  or  Gurney 
portion,  and  clearly  amounted  to  a  departure  from  the 
true  order  and  standing  of  the  Society,  notwithstanding 
their  majority  of  numbers.  The  report  openly  brands 
those  meetings  as  separate  meetings.  How  then  was  it, 
that  a  similar  clear  judgment  was  not  sent  forward  in 


152 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN       [CHAP.  X. 


regard  to  the  separation  in  the  Yearly  Meeting  itself, 
which  was  the  necessary  result  of  the  others? 

It  was  the  doing  of  the  party  of  compromise.  When 
the  report  came  to  be  read  in  Philadelphia  Yearly  Meet- 
ing, it  was  found,  to  the  astonishment  of  some  Friends, 
that  the  circumstances  of  the  separation  in  the  Yearly 
Meeting  of  New  England  were  almost  left  out  of  view, 
being  summarily  disposed  of  in  a  single  passage  of  about 
a  dozen  lines  ;  and  the  judgment  of  the  committee  on  this 
momentous  subject  was  frittered  down  to  such  an  ambig- 
uous expression  as  is  the  last  paragraph  but  one,  of  those 
above  quoted.  This  passage  appears  to  have  been  in- 
tended, by  its  instigators,  to  muddle  the  whole,  and 
blind  the  judgment  of  the  Yearly  Meeting. 

It  might  have  been  expected  that  the  same  careful  and 
candid  consideration  would  have  been  given  to  these 
latter  transactions  that  was  given  to  those  on  which  they 
were  founded.  But  what  does  this  passage  say?  Not 
that  the  Friends  belonging  to  the  Smaller  Body,  who 
were  acknowledged  and  proved  to  have  been  subjected 
to  irregular  and  oppressive  proceedings  on  account  of 
their  desire  to  maintain  inviolate  the  doctrines  and  testi- 
monies and  discipline  of  the  Society,  were  entitled  to 
our  sympathy  and  encouragement  and  recognition,  as 
brethren  and  sisters  engaged  in  the  same  precious  cause 
— the  cause  so  dear  to  our  forefathers— no !  but  a  cold 
acknowledgment  of  belief,  that  although  the  manner  of* 
the  separation  was  not  a  safe  precedent  in  the  organiza- 
tion of  a  Yearly  Meeting,  yet  as  they  had  been  thus 
irregularly  oppressed  for  their  testimony  to  the  Truth, 
it  was  believed  they  were  still  entitled  to  the  rights  of 
membership.    And  here  was  the  dark  and  vague  charge, 


1849.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


153 


that  they  appeared  to  have  done  something  not  consid- 
ered safe  as  a  precedent.  What  had  they  done?  They 
were  not  engaged  in  "organizing  a  Yearly  Meeting." 
They  were  endeavoring  to  sustain  New  England  Yearly 
Meeting  on  its  original  ground,  against  the  contrivances 
of  a  powerful  band  of  men  engaged  in  perverting  the 
ancient  doctrines  and  revolutionizing  the  Society.  The 
committee  here  made  no  attempt  to  explain  in  what 
respect  their  proceedings  had  been  unsafe  as  a  precedent, 
or  how  their  rights  of  membership  were  to  be  protected 
without  owning  them  as  the  Yearly  Meeting;  but  left 
this  blind  charge  as  a  stain  upon  their  position,  not 
capable  of  contradiction  from  its  very  vagueness.  With 
respect  to  the  Monthly  and  Quarterly  Meetings,  they 
had  as  strictly  followed  the  evidence  adduced,  as  if  the 
matter  were  in  a  court  of  justice,  and  had  declared  the 
meetings  of  the  Smaller  Body  the  true  ones,  and  the 
others  spurious.  But  when  it  came  to  the  separation  in 
the  Yearly  Meeting — that  all-important  matter  essen- 
tially resulting  from  the  former — there  was  no  such 
desire  manifested  to  enter  into  particulars  ;  nothing  but 
a  vague,  one-sided,  and  very  unfair  intimation  of  opinion, 
unsupported  by  the  smallest  appearance  of  proof,  or  even 
of  specification.  The  passage  bears  the  appearance  of  a 
blot  upon  the  whole  report;  of  being  the  production  of 
men  who  were  suddenly  arrested  with  alarm  at  the  ten- 
dency of  their  own  deductions,  and  resolved  upon  con- 
triving something  at  last  to  neutralize  their  force,  and 
evade  the  necessary  result.    How  could  this  occur  ? 

The  paragraph  was  prepared,  aside  from  the  com- 
mittee, after  a  very  painful  discussion,  and  afterwards 
was  not  proposed  for  interpolation  into  the  Report, 

VOL.   II.  — 14 


154 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN       [CHAP.  X. 


until  near  the  close  of  the  deliberations;  it  was  firmly 
and  persistently  opposed  by  some  of  the  committee 
who  saw  in  measure  its  bearing  and  intent ;  and  was 
only  submitted  to,  as  it  were,  at  the  last  moment,  when 
but  about  half  an  hour  remained  before  the  whole  would 
have  to  be  submitted  to  those  who  appointed  them,  and 
under  the  compulsory  declaration  on  the  part  of  its  pro- 
posers, that  if  this  passage  were  not  admitted  into  the 
report,  the  rest  "could  not  be  sanctioned  by  them;  and 
thus  the  labor  of  the  winter  on  this  momentous  subject 
must  have  fallen  to  the  ground ! 

Had  the  committee  been  untrammelled  by  opposing 
views,  and  unanimously  taken  complete  and  comprehen- 
sive ground,  and  maintained  it  throughout,  as  men  in 
earnest  above  all  things  for  the  maintenance  and  preser- 
vation of  the  pure  truth,  without  fear  of  man,  or  calcu- 
lating dread  of  probable  consequences,  which  were  not 
in  their  hands,  but  in  those  of  the  Great  Head  of  the 
church,  they  would  moreover  not  have  confined  them- 
selves to  a  mere  disciplinary  examination  and  judgment 
— flagrantly  oppressive  and  despotic  as  had  been  the 
measures  resorted  to — but  they  would  likewise  have  felt 
it  their  duty  to  show  the  connection  of  these  outrages  in 
discipline,  with  the  attempts  made  to  introduce  those 
new  and  unsound  principles  which  had  been  proved,  in 
the  "  Appeal  for  the  Ancient  Doctrines,"  to  be  circulat- 
ing in  the  Society  and  threatening  its  life.  For  the 
absence  of  any  repressive  measures  on  the  part  of  those 
in  power  in  New  England  to  prevent  the  spread  of  the 
disease,  and  still  more  their  determined  opposition  to  the 
adducing  of  any  evidence  on  doctrines,  and  their  per- 
sistent oppression  of  those  who  were  conscientiously 


1849.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


155 


concerned  to  expose  the  nature  of  the  danger,  and  warn 
their  fellow-members  against  its  inroads,  if  fully  devel- 
oped, would  surely  have  been  conclusive  proof  of  their 
doctrinal  defection ;  and  would  thus  have  furnished  (we 
might  say  unquestionable)  ground  for  a  prompt  and  de- 
cided judgment,  on  the  part  of  Philadelphia  Yearly 
Meeting,  that  the  "  Larger  Body"  in  New  England, 
which  had  thus  departed,  had  left  the  original  basis  of 
the  Society,  and  was  no  longer  to  be  recognized  as  be- 
longing to  the  same  household  of  faith.  But  this,  which 
was  proposed  in  an  early  stage  of  the  proceedings,  but 
rejected,  would  have  defeated  the  plans  of  those  who, 
having  embraced  the  views  of  the  party  of  compromise, 
were  for  promoting  a  "  peace  at  all  costs" — a  "peace 
where  there  was  no  peace,"  nor  coidd  be  any  without  a 
loss  of  true  sight  and  sense  to  those  who  would  thus 
sacrifice  principle  to  expediency. 

At  the  Yearly  Meeting  in  the  fourth  month  of  1849, 
this  "Report,"  after  much  stormy  opposition  to  it,  was, 
notwithstanding  these  deficiencies,  fully  adopted  by  a 
very  large  expression  of  the  solid  sense  and  judgment 
of  the  meeting  ;  and  a  copy  of  it  was  directed  to  be  sent 
to  each  of  the  two  Bodies  in  New  England  which  had 
claimed  our  recognition  by  sending  epistles  and  docu- 
ments. By  the  "  Smaller  Body,"  the  report  was  read, 
cheerfully  approved,  and  printed  for  circulation  among 
the  members  and  others.  By  the  "  Larger  Body,"  it 
was  not  read,  nor  accepted,  nor  of  course  approved,  nor 
allowed  to  circulate  among  their  members  any  further 
than  they  could  not  prevent ;  but  a  reply  thereto  was 
three  years  afterwards  (in  1852)  published  by  them,  en- 
titled "  A  Vindication  of  the  Disciplinary  Proceedings," 


156 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN       [CHAP.  X. 


etc. — showing  their  entire  disapproval  of  the  Philadel- 
phia document,  and  their  resolution  to  maintain  their 
own  course. 

The  advocates  of  half-way  measures  in  and  about 
Philadelphia  now  raised  a  cry  against  the  "Smaller 
Body  "  of  New  England,  on  account  of  their  having 
printed  the  Report  of  Philadelphia  on  the  Separation, 
which  had  been  sent  to  their  Yearly  Meeting.  This 
publication  of  it  was  sorely  distasteful  to  the  leaders  of 
that  party,  because  it  made  known,  in  a  way  not  to  be 
evaded,  the  sense  and  judgment  of  Philadelphia  Yearly 
Meeting  respecting  those  transactions.  They  saw  that 
it  would  thus  be  more  difficult  to  repress  the  recogni- 
tion of  the  "  Smaller  Body,"  which  the  Gurneyites  so 
strongly  deprecated  ;  and  accordingly  they  endeavored 
to  prejudice  the  minds  of  Friends,  and  were  unsparing 
of  their  blame  on  that  "  Smaller  Body  "  for  thus  pre- 
suming to  print  the  Report. 

The  Yearly  Meeting  of  Philadelphia  convened  as  usual 
in  the  fourth  month,  1850.  A  document  acknowledging 
the  reception  of  the  Report  on  the  Separation,  and  their 
unity  with  its  development  of  the  various  transactions 
leading  to  and  producing  that  sorrowful  crisis,  had  been 
sent  by  the  Yearly  Meeting  of  the  Smaller  Body  of  New 
England  addressed  to  Philadelphia  Yearly  Meeting,  as 
well  as  an  Epistle  from  the  Larger  Body.  The  subject 
was  mentioned  by  the  clerk  in  connection  with  the  Epis- 
tles, after  the  others  had  been  read  ;  but  it  soon  plainly 
appeared  that  he  and  Samuel  Bettle,  and  some  others, 
had  made  up  their  minds  to  stop,  as  far  as  possible,  all 
deliberation  looking?  to  a  recognition  of  either  of  the  two 
bodies.    Nevertheless,  a  great  discussion  ensued.  Many 


1850.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


157 


solid,  experienced,  and  influential  Friends  were  anxious 
to  have  the  document  from  the  Smaller  Body  read,  and 
expressed  themselves  plainly  and  fully  to  that  purpose. 
But  the  Gurney  party  were  decidedly  opposed  to  it,  and 
Isaac  Lloyd  warned  the  meeting  that  "the  crisis  had 
come,"  and  if  they  did  read  the  document  from  the 
Smaller  Body,  it  would  "convulse  the  whole  Society." 
After  a  time,  Samuel  Bettle  said,  "that  from  what  had 
transpired,  it  was  evident  to  him  that  no  conclusion  could 
be  come  to  with  that  degree  of  unity  that  should  be  mani- 
fested on  so  important  a  subject,"  and  proposed  the  post- 
ponement of  the  whole  matter  to  another  year.  With  this 
the  Gurney  party  generally  united,  and  a  considerable 
number  of  others  who  had  confidence  in  Samuel  Bettle's 
contrivances.  Many  other  Friends,  however,  objected, 
seeing  no  prospect  of  benefit  in  deferring  it  year  after 
year.  At  length  a  proposal  was  made  by  some  of  the 
latter,  to  postpone  the  consideration  of  the  question  to  a 
future  sitting;  but  the  clerk,  who  wished  to  quash  it 
altogether,  informed  the  meeting  that  there  would  be 
nothing  on  the  minutes  to  call  it  up  subsequently,  and, 
along  with  S.  B.,  strongly  urged  the  meeting  to  cease 
from  any  further  agitation  of  the  matter.  Very  soon, 
without  allowing  further  opportunity  for  a  general  ex- 
pression, he  arbitrarily  proceeded  with  other  business. 
Many  Friends'  minds  were  grievously  burdened,  and  on 
Fourth-day  the  subject  was  again  opened.  Friends  of 
much  experience  and  long  standing  in  the  Truth  ex- 
pressed their  feelings  decidedly  in  favor  of  at  least  read- 
ing what  our  Friends  of  New  England  had  addressed 
to  us  in  acknowledgment  of  our  communication  to  them. 
It  was  urged  that  common  fairness  and  civility,  as  well 


158 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN       [CHAP.  X. 


as  the  plainest  justice,  required  us  to  hear  what  they  had 
to  say  in  reply.  But  all  this,  and  the  sentiments  em- 
phatically expressed  by  many  Friends,  availed  nothing. 
The  clerk  remarked  that  he  thought  this  Yearly  Meet- 
ing had  done  its  duty,  in  reference  to  the  two  bodies  in 
Isew  England.  It  had,  through  the  Meeting  for  Suffer- 
ings, examined  their  statements  respectively,  and  in  the 
document  issued  last  year  it  had  given  the  views  of  each, 
had  endeavored  to  show  wherein  important  principles 
had  been  disregarded,  and  had  come  to  the  conclusion 
that  the  members  of  the  Smaller  Body  were  to  be  recog- 
nized as  members — that  they  were  so  recognized,  as  they 
were  allowed  to  attend  the  meeting ! — but  that  a  difficulty 
was  felt  in  reference  to  the  organization  of  the  Yearly 
Meeting,  owing  to  its  being  indispensable  to  maintain 
the  subordination  of  meetings,  etc., — adding,  that  we  had 
exhorted  them  to  become  reconciled — we  did  not  know 
what  way  might  open  for  the  restoration  of  harmony 
among  them — and  on  that  account  he  desired  the  post- 
ponement of  the  whole  subject  for  another  year.  He 
recommended  Friends  to  turn  their  attention  to  our  own 
condition  as  a  Yearly  Meeting,  and  endeavor  to  build 
up  our  own  waste  places,  etc.,  and  then,  having  the 
power  to  foreclose  the  discussion,  went  on  with  other 
business.  This  result  was  to  the  grief  of  many  substan- 
tial members,  and  to  the  great  exultation  of  the  Gurney 
faction,  who  had  worked  with  the  middle  party  in  set- 
ting aside  the  clear  judgment  of  the  meeting.  They 
derived  much  encouragement  from  this  unexpected  suc- 
cess, and  the  Yearly  Meeting  seemed  to  lose  from  that 
time  all  power  to  come  to  any  decision  whatever  in  re- 
gard to  the  New  England  question.    The  darkness  that 


1850.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


159 


ensued  over  the  meeting  was  very  sensibly  felt  during 
the  remaining  sittings.  The  life  of  the  assembly  ap- 
peared to  be  gone. 

Towards  the  close  of  the  Yearly  Meeting,  on  Sixth- 
day,  Samuel  Cope,  a  minister  from  Cain  Quarterly 
Meeting,  in  a  weighty  and  impressive  manner,  from  a 
burdened  mind,  declared  his  unity  with  the  "  Smaller 
Body"  of  New  England,  in  substance  as  follows : 

"  '  The  foundation  of  God  standeth  sure,  having  this  seal, 
"  '  The  Lord  knoweth  them  that  are  his.' 

"I  have  never  felt  a  stronger  necessity  laid  upon  me  to 
"  speak  than  upon  the  present  occasion;  and  I  must  say,  that 
"  my  mind  has  heen  bowed  down  and  burdened,  through  the 
"various  sittings  of  this  Yearly  Meeting,  under  a  painful 
"  sense  of  the  low  state  of  things  among  us.  And  this  remark 
"applies  both  to  individuals  and  to  meetings;  and  I  have 
"  borne  it  till  I  can  bear  it  no  longer  in  silence. 

"Whilst  thinking  of  these  things,  I  have  remembered  the 
"remarkable  account  which  is  left  us  concerning  Mordecai 
"  the  Jew,  who  sat  at  the  king's  gate.  It  is  recorded  of  this 
"humble  and  watchful  servant  of  the  king,  that  he  discovered 
"  the  wicked  conspiracy  of  Bigthana  and  Teresh  against  their 
"lord  and  master,  and  was  thus  made  instrumental  in  saving 
"  the  king's  life.  Although  for  a  time  his  important  services 
"seemed  to  be  overlooked  and  forgotten,  yet  they  were  re- 
"  corded  in  the  book  of  remembrance,  and  laid  up  before  the 
"king.  This  same  Mordecai,  although  he  could  sit  in  deep 
"  humility  at  the  king's  gate,  yet  he  would  not  bow  down  to 
"  proud  Hainan,  who  was  so  full  of  wrath  that  he  determined 
"  to  destroy  not  Mordecai  only,  but  all  the  people  of  Mordecai 
"also.  For  this  purpose  he  caused  a  decree  to  be  sent  forth, 
"and  sealed  it  with  the  king's  ring,  that  all  the  Jews  within 
"  the  kingdom  should  be  put  to  the  sword,  vainly  imagining 
"that  he  could  thus  root  out  and  destroy  the  servants  of  the 
"  living  God.  But  at  a  very  critical  juncture,  when  it  seemed 
"to  all  human  apprehension  that  the  destruction  of  the  poor 


160 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN       [CHAP.  X. 


feeble  Jews  was  inevitable,  tbe  king's  mind  was  troubled, 
and  he  commanded  that  the  book  of  the  chronicles  of  his 
kingdom  should  be  read  before  him,  and  in  it  was  found 
written  that  Mordecai  had  done  what  he  could  for  the  king's 
cause. 

"  You  may  read  in  the  Bible  the  sad  history  of  those  who 
took  part  in  this  wicked  conspiracj',  which  was  waged  not 
against  one  faithful  individual  only,  but  against  all  the 
people  of  God ;  and  there  learn  the  awful  fate  of  those  who 
had  thus  wickedly  conspired  against  the  Lord's  people. 
"  The  application  which  I  feel  myself  constrained  to  make  of 
the  history  thereof  is  this :  John  Wilbur  is  the  Mordecai  of  our 
day,  who,  whilst  waiting  and  watching  at  the  king's  gate, 
was  enabled  to  detect  a  conspiracy,  which  some  of  the  Lord's 
professed  servants  had  entered  into,  against  the  doctrines 
and  testimonies  and  inward  appearance  of  his  Lord  and 
King.  And  he  was  not  only  able  to  detect  this  conspiracy, 
but  he  was  faithful  in  exposing  it,  and  he  was  strengthened 
to  bear  a  clear  and  faithful  testimony  against  it  in  his 
Master's  name.  A  record  of  these  his  honest  and  faithful 
services  has  been  written  in  the  Lord's  book  of  remem- 
brance ;  and  it  was  because  of  his  unflinching  integrity  and 
faithfulness  therein,  and  because  he  could  not  be  brought 
to  bow  down  to  the  will  of  those  who  were  banded  together 
for  the  purpose  of  changing  the  doctrines  and  principles  of 
our  religious  Society,  that  a  decree  has  gone  forth  against 
John  Wilbur  and  his  faithful  and  suffering  Friends  in  New 
England,  to  root  them  out  of  the  Lord's  heritage. 
"  And  mind,  Friends,  this  decree  was  sealed  by  what  pur- 
ports to  be  the  King's  own  ring,  and  bears  all  the  outward 
appearances  of  having  been  done  in  accordance  with  the 
rules  of  Discipline  under  right  authority ;  and  it  has  also 
been  sent  forth  and  hastened  to  all  parts  of  our  Society,  for 
the  purpose  of  uniting  all  together  against  those  persecuted 
and  faithful  ones.  And  they  are  even  now  calling  upon 
Friends  everywhere  to  aid  them  in  their  cruel  purposes. 
And  there  are  those  in  our  Yearly  Meeting,  professing  to 
sympathize  with  these  sufferers,  who  think  they  will  be  clear 


1850.]  THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


161 


"  of  John  Wilbur's  blood,  although  they  will  not  stir  a  finger 
"  to  save  him,  but  are  saying  in  the  expressive  language  of 
"conduct,  '  Let  not  our  hands  be  upon  him,  but  let  us  leave 
"him  to  perish  in  that  pit,'  into  which,  like  the  patriarch 
"Joseph,  the  malice  of  his  brethren  had  cast  him! 

"Dear  Friends,  such  is  the  conspiracy  which  has  been 
"entered  into  against  some  of  the  Lord's  faithful  people. 
"  But  all  this  consulting  and  contriving  in  the  will  and  wis- 
"dom  of  the  creature  will  be  rebuked  to  the  confusion  of  its 
"authors.  Yea,  persuaded  I  am,  that  it  will  result  in  the 
"downfall  of  those  who  think  to  overturn  the  doctrines  and 
"  principles  of  our  religious  Society. 

"  We  ought  surely  to  have  read  the  minute  from  our  suffer- 
"  ing  Friends  in  New  England.  We  were  bound  to  do  so  by 
"  the  common  courtesy  of  life,  by  the  usage  of  our  religious 
"Society,  by  sympathy  for  our  Friends,  by  our  love  for  the 
"  truth,  and  by  our  faithfulness  to  the  cause  of  our  Lord  and 
"  Master. 

' '  I  have  thus  endeavored  to  clear  my  hands  of  this  evil ; 
"  and  I  must  add,  that  I  am  fully  convinced  that  the  Lord 
"owns  John  Wilbur,  and  because  my  Divine  Master  owns 
'  him,  I  own  him  too  ;  and  I  also  own  his  and  our  suffering 
"  Friends  in  New  England  as  brethren  in  the  fellowship  of  the 
"gospel.  And  this  is  the  testimony  which  I  have  felt  bound 
"  to  bear  publicly  this  day.  I  could  not  permit  this  meeting 
"  to  separate  without  making  an  effort  to  relieve  my  tried  and 
"  burdened  mind  of  some  part  of  that  painful  load  which  has 
"  rested  upon  it ;  and,  having  done  so,  I  am  strengthened  with 
"a  renewal  of  belief  that  'the  foundation  of  God  standeth 
"sure,  having  this  seal — The  Lord  knoweth  them  that  are 
"his.'  »* 

The  control  now  assumed  by  the  middle  party  over 
the  transactions  of  Philadelphia  Yearly  Meeting,  pre- 

*  It  is  remarkable  that  the  only  notice  of  this  memorable  Yearly  Meeting, 
to  be  found  in  the  printed  Journal  of  William  Evans,  who  was  its  clerk,  and 
whose  Journal  contains  more  than  700  closely  printed  Kvo.  pages,  is  in  the  fol- 
lowing ten  words:  "Our  Yearly  Meeting  was  opened  to-day,  and  was  very 
large"  (see  page  471). 


162 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN       [CHAP.  X. 


vented  that  meeting  from  taking  firm  and  consistent 
ground  in  its  subsequent  treatment  of  various  matters 
growing  out  of  the  sad  condition  of  disunity  to  which 
the  Society  was  now  reduced.  Under  the  timid  and 
half-way  system  of  measures  to  which  it  henceforth  re- 
sorted, it  refrained  from  anything  tending  toward  the 
disownment  of  those  who  were  openly  identifying  them- 
selves with  the  schism,  and  even  from  any  clear  and 
unmistakable  course  with  regard  to  the  Yearly  Meet- 
ings which  had  plunged  themselves  into  it.  It  was  thus 
brought  into  palpable  inconsistencies  in  its  attempts  to 
retain  its  position  in  some  degree ;  and  some  of  these 
inconsistencies  the  Gurney  party  did  not  fail  from  time 
to  time  to  expose  in  print.  A  periodical  entitled  the 
"  Friends'  Review  "  was  issued  weekly  by  some  of  the 
members  of  that  party  in  Philadelphia,  and  in  its  col- 
umns the  proceedings  of  the  Yearly  Meeting  were  often 
freely  handled. 

It  cannot  be  controverted  that  in  several  respects  the 
Yearly  Meeting  laid  itself  open  to  much  animadversion, 
for  its  timid  course  led  it  repeatedly  to  transgress  the 
provisions  of  organic  law  contained  in  its  own  discipline. 
When  it  declined  the  usual  epistolary  communications 
with  other  Yearly  Meetings,  which  had  joined  in  the 
schism,  it  was  bound  by  its  fraternal  duty  to  them,  and 
by  the  usage  of  the  Society,  to  give  some  plain  reason 
for  its  dissatisfaction  with  them  and  suspension  of  the 
correspondence.  But  this  it  dared  not  do.  When  their 
ministers  came  to  attend  its  sittings,  they  were  allowed 
to  do  so,  and  to  go  all  through  the  meetings  within  its 
limits,  both  for  worship  and  discipline,  but  their  creden- 
tials were  not  permitted  to  be  read  or  noticed  ;  whereas 


1849.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


163 


the  Discipline  explicitly  declares,*  that  certificates  of 
Friends  attending  the  meeting  from  other  parts  under 
religious  concern  "are  to  be  read  therein."  This  meas- 
ure opened  a  wide  door  for  ministers  from  all  parts  of 
the  lapsed  portions  of  the  Society  to  travel  and  preach 
and  insinuate  their  principles  within  its  limits;  whereas 
the  true  and  honest  course  would  have  been  to  take  the 
open  ground,  that  such  came  from  meetings  which  had 
joined  the  secession,  and  therefore  they  could  not  be 
recognized  as  Friends.  Such  a  course,  no  doubt,  might 
have  provoked  opposition  at  first  from  those  favoring 
the  seceders ;  but  the  anticipation  of  this  should  have 
been  no  reason  for  so  irregular  a  proceeding  as  the  pal- 
pable and  persistent  violation,  by  the  Yearly  Meeting 
itself,  of  one  of  the  plain  rules  of  its  Discipline.  But 
still  more  important  was  the  fact  that,  while  it  suspended 
the  usual  epistolary  correspondence  with  other  Yearly 
Meetings,  it  left  open  the  far  more  vital  correspondence 
through  certificates  of  removal,  by  which  the  members 
were  being  constantly  recommended  "to  the  Christian 
care  and  oversight"  of  meetings  which  were  known  to 
have  departed  from  the  sound  principles  and  practices 
of  the  Society,  and  were  in  intimate  union  with  those 
engaged  in  the  schism,  and  promoting  the  spread  of  the 
new  doctrines. 

In  the  seventh  month,  1849,  assembled  in  Baltimore 
a  joint  Conference  Committee,  composed  of  committees 
appointed  by  the  Yearly  Meetings  of  New  York,  Balti- 
more, North  Carolina,  and  Indiana,  and  the  "  Larger 
Body  "  of  New  England.    The  ostensible  object  of  their 


*  Discipline  of  Philadelphia  Yearly  Meeting,  page  160  of  old  edition. 


164 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN       [CHAP.  X. 


assembling  was  "  to  take  into  consideration  the  present 
tried  state  of  our  Society,  and  to  labor  for  its  restoration 
to  that  unity  and  fellowship  that  formerly  characterized 
it;"  or,  in  other  words,  to  endeavor  to  bring  about,  in 
Ohio  and  Philadelphia  Yearly  Meetings,  a  union  with 
them  in  owning  the  Gurney  party  of  New  England  as 
the  true  Yearly  Meeting.  The  Yearly  Meetings  of  Ohio 
and  Philadelphia  had  declined  to  participate  in  the  con- 
ference, and,  from  the  fact  that  the  "  Larger  Body  "  of 
New  England  was  admitted  as  a  constituent  party  in  its 
deliberations  on  the  same  footing  as  the  four  other 
Yearly  Meetings,  it  was  plainly  seen  from  the  first  that 
its  conclusions  would  be  altogether  one-sided  and  pro- 
schismatic. 

This  joint  committee,  as  the  result  of  their  delibera- 
tions, issued  an  Address  to  the  Society,  in  which  a  pro- 
fession was  made,  in  general  terms,  of  adhering  to  the 
important  testimonies  connected  with  our  Christian  pro- 
fession ;  and  a  declaration  was  rather  ostentatiously  put 
forth,  of  the  subordination  due  from  inferior  to  superior 
meetings  in  the  order  of  the  Discipline.  Independence 
was  claimed  for  the  respective  Yearly  Meetings,  and  an 
attempt  was  made  to  show  them  to  be  irresponsible  to 
each  other,  except  in  case  of  any  great  departure  from 
the  distinguishing  doctrines  of  the  Society,  in  which  case 
they  might  be  admonished  through  the  annual  epistolary 
correspondence.  But  any  interference  with  them  by 
another,  in  the  administration  of  their  own  discipline, 
was  denounced  as  an  infraction  of  our  established  order, 
and  fraught  with  perilous  consequences.  The  refusal  to 
receive  credentials  issued  by  meetings  of  another  Yearly 
Meeting  was  also  objected  to,  as  well  as  "  any  attempt 


1852.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


165 


to  confer  upon  individuals  privileges  forfeited  in  their 
own  meetings,  or  to  sustain  them  in  assumed  rights  to 
which  they  are  not  entitled."  These  things  were  evi- 
dently thrown  out  against  Philadelphia  Yearly  Meet- 
ing ;  and  the  committee  expressed  their  judgment  in  a 
somewhat  threatening  manner,  that  "  it  is  not  to  be  ex- 
pected that  the  great  body  of  Friends  can  long  remain 
passive,  if  important  and  vital  practices  and  usages  of 
our  Society,  which  are  essential  to  our  prosperity  as  a 
people,  are  neglected  or  violated."  But  they  made  no 
attempt  to  bring  forward  any  specific  charge  of  such 
violation  or  neglect,  nor  did  they  in  the  least  degree 
clear  themselves  from  complicity  with  the  "  Larger 
Body  "  of  New  England,  in  the  gross  violations  of  the 
fundamental  requisitions  of  gospel  order  and  discipline, 
which  Philadelphia  Yearly  Meeting  had  proved  to  have 
taken  place  there  for  the  sustaining  of  the  new  views. 

This  address  was  ably  answered  in  1850,  and  shown 
to  be  entirely  ex  park,  futile,  and  illusory,  in  a  lucid 
pamphlet  published  anonymously,  supposed  to  be  by  the 
author  of  the  "  Considerations  "  of  1846. 

Although  Philadelphia  and  Ohio  Yearly  Meetings 
had  declined  to  appoint  committees,  or  take  any  part  in 
this  conference,  a  deputation  of  several  of  the  members 
of  it  attended  Philadelphia  Yearly  Meeting  in  1852  with 
the  Address,  and  with  minutes  of  North  Carolina  and 
Baltimore  Yearly  Meetings,  expressive  of  their  authority 
to  present  it  to  that  of  Philadelphia,  doubtless  in  the 
hope  of  inducing  it  to  sanction  their  positions.  The 
minutes  of  those  two  Yearly  Meetings  were  read,  out  of 
courtesy  to  those  bodies,  but  the  Yearly  Meeting  decided 


166 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN       [CHAP.  X. 


not  to  read  or  accept  the  Address  of  the  Committee  of 
Conference,  in  whose  deliberations  they  had  previously 
declined  to  participate.  This,  however,  left  the  question 
of  New  England  still  unsettled  in  Philadelphia  Yearly 
Meeting,  and  weakness  on  that  point  was  increasing  year 
by  year. 


1845.]  THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


1G7 


CHAPTER  XL 

PROGRESS  OF  THE  GURNEY  SCHISM  WITHIN  NEW  YORK 
YEARLY  MEETING. 

In  the  Yearly  Meeting  of  New  York  the  modernizing 
party,  who  had  the  control,  assumed  great  activity  upon 
the  occurrence  of  the  separation  in  New  England,  and 
by  their  preponderating  numbers  and  influence  were  too 
successful  in  procuring  a  prompt  acknowledgment  of 
their  brethren  the  "  Larger  Body,"  as  the  Yearly  Meet- 
ing for  New  England,  regardless  of  their  many  gross 
departures  from  justice  and  from  the  order  of  the  So- 
ciety, for  the  promotion  of  the  defection  from  its  true 
principles.  This  "  Larger  Body  "  had  appointed  "  cor- 
respondents" to  countersign,  or  attest,  all  documents  to 
be  sent  beyond  their  borders,  such  as  certificates  of  re- 
moval, minutes  of  ministers  travelling,  epistles,  etc.,  as 
a  sign  of  their  genuineness,  and  to  thereby  give  them 
currency  as  if  coming  from  the  true  meetings  of  Friends 
in  New  England.  Their  purpose  was  to  get  beforehand 
with  the  idea,  and  spread  it  all  over  the  land  at  once, 
that  they  were  not  the  seceders,  but  that  the  "  Smaller 
Body"  were  so.  A  list  of  these  correspondents  was 
sent  to  the  different  Yearly  Meetings,  or  to  their  Meet- 
ings for  Sufferings  which  met  in  the  interims,  and  were 
consequently  more  to  be  relied  on  for  promptness ;  so 
that  the  members  in  their  respective  subordinate  meet- 


168 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FKIENDS  IN      [CHAP.  XI. 


ings  might  be  informed,  and  their  action  regulated  ac- 
cordingly in  such  a  way  as  to  insure,  without  further 
inquiry,  the  recognition  of  all  documents  signed  by  their 
"correspondents,"  and  the  refusal  of  all  those  not  so 
signed,  and  thereby  sanction  their  claim  to  be  the  true 
Society. 

Amongst  the  rest,  these  lists  were  sent  to  Philadelphia 
and  to  New  York.  In  the  Meeting  for  Sufferings  of 
Philadelphia  the  list  was  promptly  and  decidedly  re- 
jected, as  coming  from  a  body  not  recognized  by  the 
Yearly  Meeting.  I  well  remember  the  laconic  and  em- 
phatic language  of  Henry  Cope  on  that  occasion  :  "  I 
would  as  soon  consent  that  we  should  receive  a  document 
from  a  meeting  of  Hicksites."  Indeed  there  were  in 
that  meeting,  at  that  time,  but  few  to  advocate  openly 
the  reception  of  such  a  paper. 

But  in  New  York  it  was  cordially  accepted,  sent  down 
to  the  meetings  for  discipline  by  the  Meeting  for  Suffer- 
ings, with  injunctions  to  those  meetings  to  conform  their 
actions  thereto,  and  afterwards  sanctioned  by  the  Yearly 
Meeting.  This  measure  had  the  intended  effect  of  fixing 
the  various  meetings  for  discipline  at  once  in  a  recogni- 
tion of  the  "  Larger  Body"  of  New  England,  to  a  very 
great  extent.  It  was  an  insidious  device,  shutting  out 
examination  or  any  calm  deliberation  on  the  question, 
wherever  it  was  admitted.  Of  course,  all  the  meetings 
which,  with  or  without  a  knowledge  of  the  circumstances, 
accepted  such  a  list,  and  conformed  their  official  action 
thereto,  identified  themselves  with  the  meeting  in  New 
England  which  had  issued  it.  But  in  various  parts  of 
New  York  Yearly  Meeting,  dissatisfaction  was  felt  with 
the  measure,  and  in  some  this  was  freely  expressed. 


1847.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


169 


In  Stanford  Quarterly  Meeting,  it  is  said  that  the  direc- 
tion of  the  Meeting  for  Sufferings  was  not  acceded  to, 
but  that  the  subject  was  dropped,  or  its  enforcement 
quietly  suspended.  But  this,  being  a  sort  of  compromise, 
left  it  open  to  be  renewed,  or  tacitly  acted  up  to,  at  any 
future  time. 

In  Scipio  Quarterly  Meeting  there  was  decided  oppo- 
sition to  it ;  many  Friends  being  convinced  that  the 
body  issuing  this  list  had,  by  its  proceedings  in  promo- 
tion of  schism,  forfeited  its  claim  to  be  considered  a 
Yearly  Meeting  of  Friends,  and  that  it  was  their  indis- 
pensable duty  to  refrain  from  doing  anything  whereby 
that  claim  might  have  strength  given  to  it,  and  the  claim 
of  their  brethren  suffering  for  the  ancient  faith  might  be 
shut  out.  The  conscientious  objections  of  these  Friends 
were,  however,  opposed  by  their  fellow-members  favor- 
able to  the  "  Larger  Body,"  in  several  successive  Quar- 
terly Meetings,  until,  in  the  fourth  month,  1847,  a 
minute  was  made,  and  sent  up  to  the  ensuing  Yearly 
Meeting  in  the  city  of  New  York,  to  the  effect  that  the 
subject  had  produced  much  exercise  among  them,  but 
that  they  did  not  unite  in  acceding  to  the  measure  as 
requested.  When  this  minute  was  presented  to  the 
Yearly  Meeting,  such  was  the  determination  of  the 
leaders  there  to  compass  their  purpose,  and  such  was  the 
extraordinary  submissiveness  of  other  prominent  char- 
acters for  the  sake  of  a  superficial  appearance  of  peace, 
that  a  committee  was  appointed  to  visit  Scipio  Quarterly 
Meeting,  clothed  with  authority  to  form  a  component 
part  of  that  Quarterly  Meeting,  and  specially  directed 
to  see  that  the  desire  of  the  Yearly  Meeting  for  the  rec- 
ognition of  those  lists  should  be  carried  out. 

VOL.  II. — 15 


170 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN      [CHAP.  XI. 


At  the  succeeding  Quarterly  Meeting  of  Scipio  this 
committee  attended,  and  a  clerk  being  at  the  table  who 
favored  their  views,  facilitated  the  success  of  their  mis- 
sion. The  list  from  New  England  was  accordingly  car- 
ried through  the  meeting  by  their  and  his  influence  and 
exertions,  though  firmly  and  weightily  objected  to  by 
many  Friends;  and  was  minuted  by  the  clerk,  and  sent 
down  for  the  acceptance  of  the  Monthly  Meetings. 

The  Monthly  Meeting  of  Scipio  having  also  a  clerk 
favorable  to  these  new  measures,  accepted  the  document, 
thus  identifying  itself  with  the  Separatists  in  New  Eng- 
land, and  with  the  adherents  of  that  party  within  their 
own  Yearly  Meeting.  This  brought  many  Friends  there, 
who  desired  to  continue  to  support  the  ancient  principles 
of  the  Society,  into  a  great  strait.  Some  of  them  now 
felt  constrained  to  decline  the  attendance  of  meetings  for 
discipline  held  under  a  subordination  so  schismatic  and 
irregular,  believing  them  to  be  supporting  that  which 
was  out  of  the  Truth,  and  denying  fellowship  with  those 
few  who  were  suffering  for  their  testimony  to  it,  and 
against  error.  A  number  of  these  Friends,  previous  to 
the  Preparative  Meeting  of  Scipio,  preceding  the  Quar- 
( terly  Meeting  in  the  ninth  month,  1847,  met  together 
to  consider  the  trying  position  in  which  they  were  now 
placed.  They  agreed  in  judgment,  that  if  they  should 
participate  in  the  business  of  the  meetings  in  their  present 
position,  they  would  render  themselves  accessory  to  the 
schism ;  and  they  were  led  to  believe  that  the  time  had  come 
for  them  to  endeavor,  with  best  help,  to  take  a  united  and 
open  stand  in  testimony  against  these  innovations.  Ac- 
cordingly they  drew  up  a  short  document,  expressive  of 
their  conscientious  objections  to  the  course  pursued  by 


1847.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


171 


those  in  apparent  authority.  As  they  had  already  taken 
the  "round  that  they  could  have  no  part  in  the  proceed- 
ings of  the  meetings  for  discipline  in  their  new  position, 
the  only  way  which  seemed  open  for  them  to  present  the 
paper  to  the  other  members  of  the  Preparative  Meeting 
was  at  the  conclusion  of  the  meeting  for  worship,  imme- 
diately before  the  closing  of  the  partition  shutters  be- 
tween the  men's  and  the  women's  meetings. 

At  the  time  proposed,  the  members  assembled  were 
accordingly  informed  of  the  character  of  the  paper  which 
it  was  proposed  to  read.  But  so  clamorous  an  opposition 
to  it  at  once  arose  from  a  number  of  those  present,  that 
the  Friend  who  had  risen  for  the  purpose  of  reading  it 
was  unable  to  proceed  ;  and  while  Friends  were  calmly 
endeavoring  to  allay  the  opposition,  efforts  were  made 
by  some  present,  in  an  abrupt  and  uncivil  manner,  to 
close  the  shutters.  There  seemed,  therefore,  to  be  no 
way  left  for  Friends,  but  to  withdraw;  and  it  was  ac- 
cordingly proposed,  that  those  who  were  concerned  to 
support  our  ancient  principles  should  retire  to  a  dwell- 
ing-house adjacent.  About  half  the  meeting  (as  it  was 
supposed)  repaired  thither,  Friends  walking  silently  to 
the  house,  under  a  sense  of  the  solemnity  and  importance 
of  the  occasion,  and  believing  that  nothing  short  of  be- 
ing driven  to  the  last  extremity  could  have  induced  them 
to  take  this  step  for  the  preservation  of  a  conscience  void 
of  offence.  "  And  sitting  down  together,  at  this  time  of 
"deep  exercise  and  trial,  looking  to  the  Fountain  of  all 
"our  sure  mercies,  they  had  thankfully  to  acknowledge 
"  the  tendering  and  contriting  influence  of  Israel's  un- 
"  slumbering  Shepherd,  cementing  their  hearts  together, 
"  and  melting  many  present  into  tears." 


172 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN      [CHAP.  XI. 


It  appeared  to  be  right  to  proceed  with  the  usual 
business  of  the  Preparative  Meeting,  as  far  as  practica- 
ble; and  as  a  number  of  Friends  were  present  from 
North  Street  (another  Preparative  Meeting  of  the  same 
Monthly  Meeting),  it  was  concluded  to  hold  the  Monthly 
Meeting  also,  in  its  usual  course,  the  following  week, 
regardless  of  an  adjournment  made  by  the  opposing  party 
for  the  accommodation  of  the  Yearly  Meeting's  com- 
mittee. A  committee  was  now  appointed  to  prepare  a 
document  explanatory  of  the  proceedings  of  Friends,  and 
of  the  extraordinary  circumstances  which  had  led  to  the 
present  crisis.  This  document  was  subsequently  produced 
to  the  Monthly  Meeting,  where  it  was  approved  and 
placed  on  record.  The  following  extract  from  it  will 
show  the  position  taken  by  these  Friends  to  be  one  of 
vital  principle,  and  not  of  mere  notions  or  technicalities  : 

"A  lamentable  schism  has  lately  taken  place  amongst 
"Friends  in  New  England,  which  we  believe  was  occasioned 
"by  a  defection  in  principle,  that  led  to  the  disownment  of  a 
"sound  minister,  in  a  manner  very  much  at  variance  with 
"the  spirit  of  Christian  love  ;  who,  we  believe,  was  conscien- 
tiously, and  in  accordance  with  the  Discipline  of  his  own 
"  Yearly  Meeting,  bearing  a  testimony  against  unsound  doc- 
"  trines  published  by  conspicuous  members  of  our  Society, 
"which  have  been  for  a  considerable  time  in  circulation 
"  throughout  all  the  Yearly  Meetings,  and  have  caused  much 
"pain  and  uneasiness  to  many  honest  Friends.  This,  to- 
gether with  the  arbitrary  and  high-handed  course  taken 
"against  several  other  Friends,  who  appeared  to  be  honestly 
"and  conscientiously  contending  for  the  maintenance  of  our 
"Christian  faith  and  discipline,  we  believe,  produced  the  sep- 
aration— many  Friends  justly  believing  that  if  concerned 
"  individuals  for  the  prosperity  of  the  Truth,  were  not  perrait- 
"  ted  to  hold  forth  the  voice  of  warning  against  the  spoiler  of 


1847.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


173 


"the  Lord's  people,  by  bearing  a  testimony  against  unsound 
"doctrine,  which  appeared  to  be  undermining  our  holy  pro- 
fession, without  eliciting  unprecedented  and  undisciplinary 
"proceedings  against  them,  the  ground  of  our  profession  must 
"be  inevitably  changed.  Under  this  view,  we  believe,  a  faith- 
"ful  remnant  [in  New  England]  rallied  to  the  standard  of 
"ancient  principle,  and  as  their  last  and  only  resort,  were 
"obliged  to  come  out  from  among  their  opponents,  so  that 
"  they  might  bear  an  unfettered  and  efficient  testimony  in  sup- 
"  port  of  the  unchangeable  Truth,  and  against  those  unsound 
"principles  which  were  evidently  increasing  amongst  us,  and 
"  which  seemed  to  be  working  a  revolution  in  the  doctrines  of 
"our  Society,  and  insidiously  drawing  man}-  from  the  true 
"  place  of  rest  and  safety.  This  part,  although  embracing  the 
"smaller  number,  We  consider  the  true  Society  of  Friends; 
"  who  are  not  even  charged  with  holding  or  promoting  un- 
"  sound  doctrine.  But  their  opponents,  although  embracing 
"the  larger  number,  we  believe,  by  their  actions,  have  for- 
feited their  claim  as  the  true  Society,  from  their  disownment 
"of  sound  and  sincere  Friends,  for  the  cause  and  in  the  man- 
"  ner  to  which  we  have  alluded  ;  thus  unavoidably  implicating 
"themselves  with  unsoundness,  and  are  seceders  from  the 
"  Society." 

The  Scipio  Monthly  Meeting  of  Friends  of  the  ancient 
faith,  held  at  the  usual  time,  appointed  representatives 
to  be  in  attendance  at  the  time  and  place  of  holding  the 
Quarterly  Meeting.  Thus  was  Scipio  Monthly  Meeting 
rescued  from  the  hands  of  those  who  were  perverting 
an  assumed  authority  in  the  church  to  purposes  destruc- 
tive of  the  essential  characteristics  of  our  religious  com- 
pact— who  were  prostituting  to  party  purposes  that 
beautiful  order  and  discipline  established  in  divine  wis- 
dom for  the  government  of  the  flock  in  the  life  and 
sweetness  of  Truth. 

In  Hector  Monthly  Meeting,  west  of  Cayuga  Lake, 


174 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN      [CHAP.  XI. 


sound  Friends  had  sufficient  influence  to  prevent  the 
acceptance  of  the  list  from  New  England.  They  also 
declined  to  recognize  the  authority  of  the  Yearly  Meet- 
ing's committee,  taking  the  ground  that  it  was  an  unpre- 
cedented circumstance,  unauthorized  by  the  Discipline, 
and  at  variance  with  the  spirit  of  the  gospel,  for  such  a 
committee  to  be  made  by  the  Yearly  Meeting  a  compo- 
nent part  of  an  inferior  meeting,  for  the  special  purpose 
of  obliging  a  compliance  with  its  direction  to  adopt  a 
particular  course,  contrary  to  the  conscientious  convic- 
tions of  the  members;  and  especially  as  this  committee 
was  appointed  by  a  meeting  which  had  identified  itself 
with  the  supporters  of  unsound  doctrines,  and  ought 
not  to  be  regarded  as  really  having  the  authority  which 
it  claimed.  A  few  of  the  members  took  an  opposite 
view,  and  the  Yearly  Meeting's  committee  attempted  to 
displace  the  clerk  of  the  Monthly  Meeting,  and  appoint 
one  subservient  to  their  own  wishes.  At  length,  per- 
ceiving that  they  could  not  prevail  to  frustrate  the  steady 
procedure  of  the  Monthly  Meeting,  they  desired  their 
own  partisans  to  refrain  from  participating  in  the  busi- 
ness; and  when  the  Monthly  Meeting  adjourned,  they 
and  the  few  members  sympathizing  with  them  remained 
together,  instituted  a  separate  meeting  of  their  own,  and 
adjourned  to  the  following  day.  Hector  Monthly  Meet- 
ing appointed  representatives  as  usual  to  the  Quarterly 
Meeting. 

The  Monthly  Meeting  of  De  Ruyter  had  likewise 
declined  to  receive  the  list  from  New  England;  and  one 
of  the  representatives,  who  had  in  charge  the  report  from 
that  meeting  for  the  Quarterly  Meeting,  was  with  the 
Friends  of  sound  doctrine> 


1848.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


175 


Friends  of  these  three  Monthly  Meetings,  being  thus 
freed  from  the  schismatic  proceedings  and  control  of  the 
committee  and  its  adherents,  held  the  Quarterly  Meeting 
of  Scipio  at  the  usual  time.  As  the  meeting-house  was 
occupied  by  their  opponents,  there  seemed  to  them  to  be 
no  other  way  but  to  hold  their  meeting  in  a  school-house 
adjacent,  rather  than  to  go  in  and  contend  for  the  occu- 
pancy of  their  meeting-house.  It  was  thought  that  the 
Quarterly  Meeting  as  now  held  embraced  about  one-half 
the  members  of  the  former  Quarterly  Meeting.  They 
had  a  favored  and  solemn  meeting,  wherein  the  wing  of 
Ancient  Goodness  was  felt  to  be  mercifully  spread  over 
them,  and  his  compassionate  regard  experienced  to  their 
great  comfort.  The  mouths  of  some  of  their  ministers 
were  opened  in  a  remarkable  manner,  and  a  sweet  evi- 
dence was  felt,  that  to  those  who  are  endeavoring  to  walk 
in  the  simplicity  of  the  Truth,  he  is  a  God  nigh  at  hand, 
with  whom  is  no  variableness,  neither  shadow  of  turning; 
the  same  beneficent  Preserver  of  his  truly  dedicated 
people,  yesterday,  to-day,  and  forever. 

Scipio  Quarterly  Meeting,  thus  liberated,  continued  to 
hold  on  its  way,  in  a  straightforward  course,  consistently 
with  our  ancient  profession  and  practice.  In  an  "  Address 
to  Friends,"  published  by  it  in  1848,  (from  which  some 
of  the  above  particulars  are  taken,)  they  used  the  fol- 
lowing impressive- language,  respecting  the  backsliding 
which  had  overtaken  the  Society  : 

"  For  many  years  past,  the  true  burden-bearers  among  us 
"have  been  pained  to  observe  the  relapsing  condition  of  our 
"Society,  gradually  assimilating,  in  their  apprehension,  with 
"a  worldly  spirit ;  which  appears  to  have  dimmed  that  clear 
"  perception  of  the  Truth,  and  the  things  appertaining  thereto, 


1 


in 


THE  SOCIETY  OP  FRIENDS  IN      [CHAP.  XL 


"with  which  our  worthy  predecessors  were  favored,  and  to 
"have  made  way  for  multitudinous  weaknesses  to  creep  into 
"  the  church  ;  among  which  may  be  noted,  the  declension  of 
"attending  meetings  in  consequence  of  the  pressure  of  do- 
"  mestic  concerns  ;  too  easily  giving  way  to  drowsiness  when 
"  assembled  for  the  solemn  purpose  of  divine  worship ;  the 
" facility  with  which  almost  every  request  for  membership 
"  was  acceded  to,  and  almost  every  acknowledgment  received, 
"  when  the  applicants  evinced  very  little  conformity  to  the 
"  Discipline,  either  by  their  behavior  or  outward  appearance  ; 
"  the  great  difficulty  with  which  the  Discipline  could  be 
"brought  to  bear  against  some  individuals',  and  the  reluc- 
"  tance  manifested  in  testifying  against  offenders  by  timely 
"  disownments.  These  departures  from  original  faithfulness 
"by  imbibing  the  spirit  of  the  world,  appeared  to  make  way 
"  for  a  more  serious  and  obvious  declension,  that  of  a  disaffec- 
"  tion  to  some  of  the  most  important  and  characterizing  doc- 
"  trines  of  our  Society,  as  exemplified  in  the  preceding  relation 
"  of  the  state  of  things  in  this  Quarterly  Meeting. 

"And  thus,  dear  Friends,  through  a  measure  of  suffering, 
"  have  we  been  favored  to  move  forward,  without  having  any 
"cause  to  look  back  with  regret  at  the  course  we  have  taken; 
"and  although  our  meetings  are  smaller  since  we  have  met 
"in  our  present  select  capacity,  yet  have  we  great  cause, 
"  though  often  under  an  humbling  sense  of  our  shortcomings, 
"to  look  with  confidence  to  him  whose  tender  mercies  are 
"over  all  his  works,  and  whose  overshadowing  presence  we 
"have  found,  time  after  time,  crowning  our  little  assemblies 
"with  the  issues  of  life.  And  being  thus  owned,  as  we  hum- 
"  bly  trust,  in  our  procedure,  by  the  great  Head  of  the  church, 
"we  feel  encouraged  to  extend  the  language  of  invitation  to 
"all  sincere  and  honest  Friends,  desiring  that  they  may,  as 
"ability  is  afforded,  endeavor  to  support  the  precious  doc- 
"  trines,  principles,  and  testimonies  that  our  honored  prede- 
cessors felt  bound  to  do  amid  great  opposition,  and  not 
"shrink  from  the  path  of  suffering." 

And  in  a  pamphlet  published  in  the  autumn  of  1848, 


1848.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


177 


containing  "Strictures"  on  the  Eeport  of  the  above- 
mentioned  Yearly  Meeting's  committee,  etc.,  they  ex- 
press the  following  salutary  and  discriminating  senti- 
ments, in  reference  to  the  necessity  of  a  right  subordina- 
tion of  inferior  to  superior  meetings  : 

"  We  readily  admit  that,  except  in  cases  where  superior 
"meetings  have  changed  their  ground  of  faith,  or  have  com- 
"  promised  their  principles,  all  inferior  meetings  are  very 
"properly  accountable  to  them;  and  a  due  deference  from 
"subordinate  to  higher  meetings,  while  they  continue  to  ad- 
"here  to  the  same  unchangeable  principles  of  truth  from 
"which  all  right  order  proceeded,  and  by  which  alone  it  can 
"  be  healthily  sustained,  is  quite  indispensable  for  the  harmony 
"  and  safety  of  Society.  But  a  moment's  reflection  must  show 
"us  the  impropriety  of  sacrificing  principle,  merely  for  the 
"  sake  of  sustaining  an  empty  form  of  order.  We  believe  the 
"design  and  end  of  all  wholesome  order  to  be  the  preserva- 
tion of  the  church  in  its  primeval  purity.  But  if  the  head 
"  become  corrupt  and  alienated  from  the  true  faith,  it  is  very 
"obvious  that  the  Discipline  might,  in  many  instances,  be 
"  converted  to  the  suppression  of  what  it  was  originally  de- 
"  signed  to  preserve. 

"  When  the  Reformers  protested  against  the  heresies  which 
"had  beclouded  the  Romish  Church,  would  not  the  same  claim 
"of  subordination  to  the  rules  and  ordinances  of  Romanism, 
"if  they  had  been  yielded  to,  have  completely  crushed  their 
"successful  efforts?  And  so  at  that  time  of  glorious  gospel 
"  light  and  liberty,  when  our  beloved  predecessors  in  the  truth 
"were  called  to  expose  those  corruptions  which  still  clung  to 
"  the  church,  had  they  yielded  to  the  appeals  of  order  and 
"submission  to  the  legally  authorized  and  prevailing  religion 
"  of  their  day,  how  could  they  have  brought  out,  and  handed 
"to  succeeding  generations,  those  bright  and  clear  gospel 
"truths,  the  benign  effects  of  which  appear  to  have  pervaded 
"Christendom?  But  they  firmly  and  patiently  bore  the  suf- 
ferings consequent  upon  their  faithfulness,  or  they  could  not 

VOL.  II.  — 16 


178 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN      [CHAP.  XI. 


"have  obtained  that  standing  as  lights  in  the  world.  And 
"now  it  seems  equally  important  to  testify  against  corrup- 
"  tions  and  defections  which  have  crept  into  the  Church,  as 
"  at  that  time ;  and  though  it  lead  into  proportionate  suffer- 
"  ing,  we  trust  there  is  ground  for  the  belief  that  the  same 
"happy  results  may  be  realized. 

"If  Friends  had  neglected  to  withdraw  in  1828,  when  the 
"  ruling  part  of  the  Yearly  Meeting  [of  New  York]  had  iden- 
"tified  itself  with  the  Separatists  [Hicksites]  of  Philadelphia, 
"  and  some  Quarterly  Meetings  could  not  have  conscientiously 
"submitted,  it  is  very  clear  that  the  Yearly  Meeting  could 
"  have  imposed  the  peculiar  doctrines  of  the  Separatists  upon 
"  them,  under  as  fair  a  plea  of  order  and  subordination  as  it 
"could  now  force  upon  us  doctrines  that  the  Seceders  in  New 
"England  have  upheld." 

Thus  far  in  relation  to  the  Quarterly  Meeting  of 
Scipio. 

We  may  now  briefly  advett  to  the  separation  in  Fer- 
risburgh  Quarterly  Meeting,  another  branch  of  New 
York  Yearly  Meeting,  which  occurred  in  the  year  1851. 

Starksborough  Monthly  Meeting,  a  branch  of  Ferris- 
burgh  Quarterly  Meeting,  had,  in  1849,  accepted  a  cer- 
tificate on  account  of  marriage,  issued  by  the  Monthly 
Meeting  of  Nantucket,  belonging  to  the  "  Smaller  Body  " 
of  Friends  of  New  England,  and  had  allowed  the  mar- 
riage to  take  place  with  the  sanction  of  the  meeting,  in 
the  regular  order  of  the  Discipline,  as  between  fellow- 
members.  This  produced  dissatisfaction  among  those 
whose  feelings  were  in  unison  with  the  "  Larger  Body." 
They  accordingly  carried  up  a  complaint  against  the 
Monthly  Meeting  to  the  Quarterly  Meeting,  in  the 
second  month,  1850,  alleging  that  the  individual  so 
permitted  to  marry  (belonging  to  the  "Smaller  Body" 
of  New  England)  was  "not  a  member"  of  the  Society. 


1850.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


179 


The  Quarterly  Meeting  appointed  a  committee  to  attend 
to  the  case.  This  committee,  being  of  the  same  com- 
plexion of  sentiment  as  the  complainants,  reported  to 
the  next  Quarter,  sustaining  the  complaint.  The  case 
was  then,  in  accordance  with  their  suggestion,  referred 
to  the  Yearly  Meeting.  Meantime,  however,  notwith- 
standing this  reference,  the  Quarterly  Meeting  continued 
its  committee,  to  visit  Starksborough  Monthly  Meeting, 
and  render  such  advice  and  assistance  "as  they  may 
think  proper,  and  way  open  for."  In  pursuance  of  this 
strange  and  oppressive  direction,  vague  as  it  was,  the 
committee  proceeded  to  interfere,  in  an  officious  manner, 
with  the  proceedings  of  the  Monthly  Meeting,  attempt- 
ing to  control  the  choice  of  its  clerk,  and  to  intimidate 
and  set  at  variance  the  members.  The  Monthly  Meet- 
ing, therefore,  in  its  own- justification,  sent  up  to  the 
Quarterly  Meeting  a  statement  of  the  grounds  on  which 
they  had  acted ;  the  separation  in  New  England,  in 
connection  with  the  unsoundness  of  J.  J.  Gurney's  doc- 
trines, being  shown  to  be  the  primary  cause  of  the  diffi- 
culty. They  also  requested  that  the  whole  cause  of  the 
trouble  now  in  the  Society  might  be  laid  before  the 
Yearly  Meeting  for  a  thorough  investigation.  This, 
however,  was  not  acceded  to  by  the  Quarterly  Meeting, 
but  the  Monthly  Meeting  of  Starksborough  was  forth- 
with directed  to  be  dissolved,  three  individuals  being 
deputed  to  attend  its  next  sitting,  and  to  read  the  minute 
of  dissolution  at  the  close  thereof. 

When  the  Monthly  Meeting  next  occurred  (viz.,  on 
the  29th  of  eleventh  month,  1850),  strong  efforts  were 
made  by  the  party  in  power  in  the  Quarter,  to  read  the 
minute  of  dissolution  before  the  business  of  the  Monthly 


180 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN      [CHAP.  XI. 


Meeting-  was  transacted ;  and  so  bent  were  they  on  car- 
rying out  their  purpose,  that  the  Monthly  Meeting,  after 
appointing  a  committee  to  take  into  consideration  the 
tried  condition  in  which  they  were  placed,  deemed  it 
most  prudent  to  do  no  further  business  at  that  time,  and 
adjourned  to  the  3d  of*  the  first  month  ensuing. 

The  minute  of  dissolution  was  then  read  by  one  of 
the  Quarterly  Meeting's  committee  after  the  adjournment 
of  the  Monthly  Meeting. 

At  the  next  Quarterly  Meeting  (in  the  second  month, 
1851),  Starksborough  Monthly  Meeting  again  interceded 
for  a  hearing,  and  that  the  decision  come  to  in  its  case 
might  be  rescinded.  But  a  disposition  prevailed  to  shut 
out  all  investigation,  and  to  proceed  summarily  against 
the  Monthly  Meeting.  A  portion  of  the  Quarterly 
Meeting,  including  many  of  its  most  upright  and  con- 
sistent members,  were  now  convinced  that  the  time  had 
come  when  it  was  necessary  to  withstand  the  further 
encroachments  of  that  spirit  of  schism  and  misrule  which 
was  disposed  to  put  down  all  opposition  to  the  spread  of 
the  new  views;  and  a  proposal  was  made,  and  acceded 
to  by  those  who  were  concerned  to  maintain  the  ancient 
principles  and  discipline  of  the  Society,  to  adjourn  the 
Quarterly  Meeting  to  six  o'clock  in  the  evening.  The 
clerk  was  requested  to  enter  the  adjournment  on  the 
records,  but  he  refused  to  comply.  But  the  meeting 
convened  in  accordance  therewith  in  the  evening — the 
clerk  and  many  others  opposed  to  the  measure  not  at- 
tending— and  thus  was  Ferrisburgh  Quarterly  Meeting 
relieved  from  the  control  of  those  who  had  lately  taken 
upon  themselves  to  pervert  justice  within  its  borders,  for 


1851.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


181 


the  promotion  of  the  power  and  authority  of  the  adher- 
ents of  J.  J.  Gurney  and  the  New  England  separatists. 

After  thus  tracing  the  successive  steps  by  which  these 
two  Quarterly  Meetings  were  sustained  as  a  remnant  on 
the  ancient  ground  of  faith  and  practice,  and  consider- 
ing their  uniform  declaration  throughout,  that  they  could 
not  identify  themselves  any  longer  with  a  body  which 
in  their  estimation  had  abandoned  that  ancient  ground, 
it  can  hardly  be  surprising  to  find  that  they  declined  to 
enter  the  Yearly  Meeting  in  the  city  of  New  York  by 
representatives  or  otherwise.  Some  have  supposed  that 
they  should  have  waived  their  objections,  and  tried  their 
success  in  the  ensuing  Yearly  Meeting  ;  others,  that  they 
ought  to  have  remained  quietly  "  in  the  body,"  by  which 
it  might  be  that  some  of  their  fellow-members  in  other 
portions  of  that  Yearly  Meeting  would  have  been  even- 
tually helped  to  come  forth  against  such  palpable  error, 
and  that  thus  their  influence  for  good  might  have  been 
greater  than  by  isolating  themselves  as  they  did.  Yet 
we  are  not  informed  by  what  means  they  could  thus 
have  remained  "  in  the  body,"  without  abandoning  their 
testimony  and  shutting  the  door  against  future  escape, 
or  how  they  would  have  avoided  being  all  disowned  be- 
fore the  lapse  of  another  year,  if  they  maintained  their 
testimony.  But  these  Friends  believed  they  were  driven 
into  the  position  which  they  now  occupied.  The  Yearly 
Meeting,  notwithstanding  their  repeated  solicitation  of 
a  thorough  examination  of  the  subject,  had  summarily 
rejected  their  cause,  condemned  their  position,  trampled 
upon  their  rights  and  privileges  as  members,  turned  a 
deaf  ear  to  their  earnest  desire  to  be  instructed  in  what 
consisted  their  error,  if  error  they  were  in,  and  had  gone 


182 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN      [CHAP.  XI. 


on  in  a  succession  of  measures  calculated  to  show  its 
lapse  from  genuine  Quakerism,  in  doctrine  and  practice. 
They  thus  felt  that  they  were  driven  away  from  it  by 
its  own  schismatic  coui'se,  and  believed  that  with  a  clear 
conscience  they  could  no  longer  do  anything  by  which 
its  authority  as  a  church  should  be  promoted  or  appar- 
ently sanctioned.  They  were  thus  left  without  a  Yearly 
Meeting. 

Nearly  a  year  after  the  separation  in  Ferrisburgh, 
that  Quarterly  Meeting  entered  into  correspondence 
with  Scipio  Quarterly  Meeting  respecting  the  propriety 
of  convening  together,  to  take  into  consideration  the 
tried  condition  of  Friends  sound  in  doctrine  within  the 
limits  of  New  York  Yearly  Meeting.  They  also  pro- 
posed a  place  of  meeting,  to  which  Scipio  Quarter  agreed, 
and  requested  them  to  propose  a  time.  Ferrisburgh,  in 
the  second  month,  1852,  replied  that  the  co-operation  of 
Scipio  Friends  was  comforting  to  them ;  but  that  they 
desired  to  move  no  faster  in  this  important  concern  than 
way  should  clearly  open.  They  reminded  their  brethren 
of  Scipio,  that  when  the  cloud  rested  on  the  tabernacle 
of  old,  Israel  were  to  abide  in  their  tents  ;  but  to  jour- 
ney forward  when  it  was  taken  up  and  moved  before 
them — that  so  it  ought  to  be  with  them— that  they  de- 
sired neither  to  lag  behind  nor  to  go  before  their  Guide, 
but  to  be  obedient  to  his  heavenly  teaching — and  they 
invited  Friends  of  Scipio,  if  Truth  should  clearly  open 
the  way,  to  communicate  further  with  them  on  the  subject, 
either  by  writing,  or  by  the  personal  aid  of  a  committee. 

The  same  disposition  to  wait  for  clear  evidence  of 
divine  approval  of  the  measure  proposed,  and  of  the 
mode  of  bringing  it  about,  prevailed  in  their  Quarterly 


1853.]  THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


183 


Meeting  in  the  fifth  month,  and  they  communicated  this 
to  Seipio  by  minute;  at  the  same  time  desiring  them  to 
take  such  further  steps  in  communicating  with  them 
thereon,  as  they  might  be  enabled  clearly  to  see  to  be 
right.  Scipio  Quarterly  Meeting  accordingly  appointed 
a  committee  to  correspond  with  Ferrisburgh  Friends, 
and  personally  to  unite  with  them  in  deliberation,  and 
in  preparing  an  address  to  Friends,  if,  "on  endeavoring 
after  right  direction,"  way  should  open  to  issue  one.  In 
the  eighth  month,  an  "Address  to  Friends  within  the 
limits  of  New  York  Yearly  Meeting"  was  produced, 
and  adopted  by  Ferrisburgh  Quarter,  and  forwarded  to 
Scipio,  proposing  to  meet  in  the  Poplar  Ridge  meeting- 
house, in  Cayuga  County,  "on  Second-day  after  the 
fourth  First-day  in  fifth  month  next  (1853),  at  10  o'clock 
in  the  morning;  that  [as  they  said]  we  may  unitedly 
take  into  consideration  our  peculiar  situation,  and  the 
trials  by  which  we  are  surrounded,  and  under  the  gui- 
dance of  Best  Wisdom  endeavor  to  move  forward  to  the 
upholding  of  the  standard  of  Truth  in  that  simplicity  in 
which,  in  former  days,  it  was  upheld  by  the  Yearly 
Meeting  of  New  York,  but  which,  of  latter  time,  has 
been  so  deplorably  laid  waste."  This  proposal  was  laid 
before  Seipio  Quarterly  Meeting  in  the  ninth  month, 
the  men's  and  women's  meetings  being  held  jointly  for 
its  consideration,  and,  "after  endeavoring  for  right 
direction  in  so  important  a  concern,"  was  united  with. 

The  meeting  was  accordingly  held,  in  1853,  at  the 
time  and  place  proposed  ;  and  thus  the  Yearly  Meeting 
of  Friends  of  New  York  holding  the  ancient  doctrines, 
was  sustained,  apart  from  the  schismatic  influence  and 
control  of  those  adhering  to  the  meeting  in  the  city  of 


184 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN      [CHAP.  XI. 


Xew  York,  which  had  identified  itself  with  the  innovat- 
ing party.  It  was  a  small  body,  but  it  was  on  the  an- 
cient ground. 

The  Yearly  Meeting  thus  held  at  Poplar  Ridge  was 
drawn  in  brotherly  love  and  sympathy  to  address  an 
epistle  to  the  Yearly  Meeting  of  Xew  England  (."  Smal- 
ler Body"),  which  that  meeting,  after  examination  into 
the  circumstances,  accepted  as  coming  from  Xew  York 
Yearly  Meeting  of  Friends,  and  issued  an  epistle  to 
them  in  return,  acknowledging  its  acceptance,  and  en- 
couraging their  brethren  to  faithfulness. 

Satan  is  ever  ready  with  stepping-stones,  to  lay  them 
in  convenient  places  for  those  who  want  an  excuse  for 
crossing  the  boundary  between  truth  and  error.  This 
recognition  of  the  little  company  in  Xew  York,  meeting 
as  a  Yearly  Meeting  at  Poplar  Ridge,  was  soon  made  a 
ground  of  blame  in  Pennsylvania  and  elsewhere  against 
the  "Smaller  Body"  of  Xew  England,  by  some  who 
were  about  to  range  themselves  with  the  temporizing 
party,  and  who  probably  had  not  duly  considered — and 
presently  did  not  wish  to  consider  or  to  acknowledge — 
how  inconsistent  and  defective  it  would  have  been  for 
that  body  to  take  any  other  course.  It  is  true  that  the 
"Smaller  Body  "  of  Xew  York  had  not  the  apparent 
advantage  of  the  formal  or  established  outward  organi- 
zation  (through  numbers,  representatives,  clerks,  com- 
mittees, etc.)  in  its  favor,  in  the  crisis  of  the  separation. 
But  a  very  little  reflection  might  satisfy  the  candid  un- 
biassed mind  that  this  is,  in  such  a  crisis,  a  merely  tech- 
nical advantage,  affording  no  criterion  at  all  of  rectitude, 
and  by  no  means  to  be  placed  in  competition  with  the 
preservation  of  the  soundness  of  our  profession  of  Chris- 


1853.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


185 


tian  faith,  and  the  life  of  Truth  in  the  body.  That 
which  would  otherwise  be  true  order  and  authority  be- 
comes no  longer  true  order  or  authority,  but  a  dangerous 
imitation  of  it,  when  applied  by  a  combination  of  lead- 
ing men  holding  the  control,  to  the  perversion  of  funda- 
mental truth,  and  to  the  promotion  of  the  spread  of  in- 
novation as  an  overflowing  stream  over  the  whole  Society. 
And  notwithstanding  the  efforts  made  by  the  compro- 
misers to  inculcate  the  idea  that  "  no  greater  or  more 
desolating  evil  can  afflict  the  Society  than  the  occurrence 
of  separations,"*  it  must  be  manifest  to  those  who  desire, 
above  all  things,  the  maintenance  of  our  holy  profes- 
sion on  its  primitive  Christian  ground,  that  the  disown- 
ment  of  faithful  members  for  their  testimony  and  warn- 
ing against  error,  and  the  authoritative  permission  for 
heresy  to  stalk  abroad  throughout  our  borders,  unmo- 
lested and  unrebuked,  is  tenfold  more  to  be  dreaded  than 
a  separation,  in  which  the  two  who  cannot  agree,  no 
longer  attempt  to  walk  together,  and  the  unsound  and 
dead  branches,  being  dissevered,  no  longer  corrupt  and 
benumb  with  their  mildew  the  fruit-bearing  portions  of 
the  living  tree. 

The  circumstance,  too,  of  the  possession,  by  a  meet- 
ing, of  the  same  clerk  as  before  the  separation,  has  been 
greatly  overrated  and  perverted,  in  regard  to  the  influence 
it  should  have  in  determining  the  question,  Which  is  the 
true  Yearly,  Quarterly,  or  Monthly  Meeting?  However 
desirable  it  may  be,  and  undoubtedly  is,  to  have  the 
clerk  of  a  meeting  faithful  to  his  duty  in  gathering  the 
solid  sense  and  judgment  of  the  meeting,  yet  it  would 

*  "  Remarks  on  Appointment  of  Clerks  in  Ohio  Yearly  Meeting,"  by  T.  Evans, 
Philadelphia,  1854,  page  15. 


186 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN      [CHAP.  XI. 


be  a  most  dangerous  mistake,  to  hold  the  assent  of  the 
clerk  as  an  indispensable  evidence  and  criterion,  under 
all  circumstances,  of  the  validity  of  a  meeting's  conclu- 
sion, and  thus  to  place  the  church  under  the  hand  of 
any  one  man,  whose  dictate,  or  opinion,  or  determinate 
bias,  shall  control  it  beyond  remedy,  as  being  the  only 
orderly  expression  of  its  legitimate  judgment.  The 
power  of  decision  is  with  the  church — is  indeed  its  in- 
alienable prerogative  and  duty,  so  long  as  it  is  a  living 
church,  an  assembly  of  the  faithful,  waiting  on  Christ 
its  head.  The  clerk  is  the  member  appointed  to  gather 
and  record  its  decisions  and  conclusions,  its  writer,  and 
not  its  president  in  any  sense.  So  our  forefathers  un- 
doubtedly looked  upon  it.  It  would,  indeed,  be  alto- 
gether foreign  to  our  principles  to  look  upon  a  clerk  as 
in  any  degree  a  presiding  officer,  or  "  moderator,"  in  our 
meetings  ;  and  if  the  clerk,  and  all  other  officers  of  a 
meeting,  depart  from  the  principles  and  essential  prac- 
tices of  our  profession,  they  must  be  withstood.  The 
faithful  members,  be  they  few  or  many,  in  or  out  of  office, 
are  bound  to  resist  the  innovation,  as  they  value  their 
own  integrity,  and  the  safety  of  the  church.  The  out- 
cry to  be  raised  about  charity  and  unity,  and  obedience 
to  authority,  would  here  be  altogether  misplaced.  And 
should  the  whole  authority  of  a  body,  assuming  to  be  a 
Yearly  Meeting,  be  brought  to  bear  against  the  original 
essential  principles  of  the  Society,  or  against  any  one  of 
them,  the  subordinate  meetings  are  by  that  act  absolved 
from  their  allegiance  to  the  body  so  lapsed  from  the 
Truth,  and  must  take  care  of  themselves  as  best  they  may 
be  enabled,  in  pure  dependence  on  divine  wisdom.  When 
so  lamentable  a  crisis  comes  upon  the  church,  it  is  no 


1853.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


187 


longer  a  question  to  be  decided  by  numbers,  or  by  what 
would  otherw  ise  be  the  usual  and  authoritative  practice 
of  the  organization ;  but  we  have  to  fall  back  upon  the 
first  principles  of  our  compact.  And  in  looking  at  the 
records  of  our  forefathers,  we  shall  nowhere  see  that  to 
any  one  man,  as  to  a  presiding  officer,  was  given  the 
power  of  controlling  the  judgment  of  the  church ;  nor 
that  any  assembly  can  be  entitled  to  claim  the  authority 
of  the  Church  any  longer  than  it  retains  its  allegiance 
to  Christ  our  Holy  Head. 

We  may  learn  from  some  of  the  expressions  of  Robert 
Barclay,  in  his  "Anarchy  of  the  Ranters,"  or  Treatise 
on  Church  Government,  what  were  the  views  which  our 
early  Friends  would  have  entertained  against  the  inroads 
of  heresy  in  the  church,  and  their  sense  of  the  right  and 
duty  of  withstanding  it. 

In  Section  VI  of  that  work  he  says : 

"  If  the  apostles  of  Christ  of  old,  and  the  preachers  of  the 
"  everlasting  gospel  in  this  day,  had  told  all  people,  however 
"wrong  they  found  them  in  their  faith  and  principles,  our 
"  charity  and  love  is  such  we  dare  not  judge  you,  nor  separate 
"  from  you,  but  let  us  all  live  in  love  together,  and  every  one 
"enjoy  his  own  opinion,  and  all  will  be  well;  how  should  the 
"  nations  have  been  V  Would  not  the  devil  love  this  doctrine 
"  well,  by  which  darkness  and  ignorance,  error  and  confusion, 
"might  still  continue  in  the  earth  unreproved  and  uncon- 
"demned  ?  If  it  was  needful  then  for  the  apostles  of  Christ 
"in  tlie  days  of  old  to  reprove,  without  sparing  to  tell  the 
"  high  priests  and  great  professors  among  the  Jews  that  they 
"  were  stubborn  and  still-necked,  and  always  resisted  the  Holy 
"Ghost,  without  being  guilty  of  imposition  or  oppression,  or 
"  want  of  true  love  and  charity  ;  and  also  for  those  messengers 
"  the  Lord  raised  up  in  this  day,  to  reprove  and  cry  out  against 
"the  hireling  priests,  and  to  tell  the  world  openly,  both  pro- 


188 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN      [CHAP.  XI. 


"lessors  and  profane,  that  they  were  in  darkness  and  igno- 
"  ranee,  out  of  the  truth,  strangers  and  aliens  from  the  com- 
"  monwealth  of  Israel ;  if  God  has  gathered  a  people  by  this 
"means  into  the  belief  of  one  and  the  same  truth,  must  not 
"they,  if  they  turn  and  depart  from  it,  be  admonished,  re- 
"  proved,  and  condemned  (yea,  rather  than  those  that  are  not 
"yet  come  to  the  truth),  because  they  crucify  afresh  unto 
"themselves  the  Lord  of  glory,  and  put  him  to  open  shame  ? 
"It  seems  the  apostle  judged  it  very  needful  they  should  be 
"  so  dealt  with  (Titus  1  : 10),  when  he  says :  '  There  are  many 
""unruly  and  vain  talkers  and  deceivers,  especially  they  of 
"  'the  circumcision,  whose  mouths  must  be  stopped,'  etc. 

"Were  such  a  principle  to  be  received  or  believed,  that  in 
"the  church  of  Christ  no  man  should  be  separated  from,  no 
"man  condemned,  or  excluded  the  fellowship  and  communion 
"  of  the  body,  for  his  judgment  or  opinion  in  matter  of  faith, 
"  then  what  blasphemies  so  horrid,  what  heresies  so  damna- 
"ble,  what  doctrine  of  devils,  but  might  harbor  itself  in  the 
"church  of  Christ?  What  need,  then,  of  sound  doctrine,  if 
"  no  doctrine  make  unsound  ?  What  need  of  convincing  and 
"exhorting  gainsayers,  if  to  gainsay  be  no  crime?  Where 
"should  the  unity  of  the  faithful  be  ?  Were  not  this  an  inlet 
"  to  all  manner  of  abomination,  and  to  make  void  the  whole 
"tendency  of  Christ  and  his  apostles'  doctrine,  and  render 
"  the  gospel  of  none  etfect,  and  give  a  liberty  to  the  inconstant 
"  and  giddy  will  of  man  to  innovate,  alter,  and  overturn  it  at 
"  his  pleasure  ? 

"So  that  from  all  that  is  above  mentioned  we  do  safety  con- 
clude, that  where  a  people  are  gathered  together  into  the 
"belief  of  the  principles  and  doctrines  of  the  gospel  of  Christ, 
"  if  any  of  that  people  shall  go  from  their  principles  and  assert 
"  things  false  and  contrary  to  what  they  have  already  received, 
"  such  as  stand  and  abide  firm  in  the  faith  have  power  by  the 
"Spirit  of  God,  after  they  have  used  Christian  endeavors  to 
"convince  or  reclaim  them,  upon  their  obstinacy,  to  separate 
'■'■from  such,  and  to  exclude  them  from  their  spiritual  fellow- 
"  ship  and  communion  ;  for  otherways,  if  this  be  denied,  fare- 


1853.]  THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


189 


"well  to  all  Christianity,  or  to  the  maintaining  of  any  sound 
"doctrine  in  the  church  of  Christ." 

And  concerning  the  power  of  decision  resting  in  the 
testimony  of  the  Holy  Spirit  through  the  living  mem- 
bers, lie  says,  in  Section  VII : 

"To  give  a  short  and  }'et  clear  and  plain  answer  to  this 
"  proposition,  the  only  proper  judge  of  controversies  in  the 
"  church  is  the  Spirit  of  God,  and  the  power  of  deciding  solely 
"  lies  in  it,  as  having  the  only  unerring,  infallible,  and  certain 
"judgment  belonging  to  it ;  which  infallibility  is  not  necessarily 
"annexed  to  any  persons,  person,  or  places  whatsoever,  by  vir- 
utue  of  any  office,  place,  or  station,  any  one  may  have,  or  have 
"  had,  in  the  body  of  Christ.  That  is  to  say,  that  any  have 
"ground  to  reason  thus,  because  I  am  or  have  been  such  an 
"eminent  member,  therefore  my  judgment  is  infallible;  or, 
'■•because  ice  are  the  greatest  number;  or,  that  we  live  in  such 
"a  noted  or  famous  place,  or  the  like;  though  some  of  these 
"reasons  may  and  ought  to  have  their  true  weight  incase  of 
"contradictor}'  assertions  (as  shall  hereafter  be  observed), yet 
"not  so  as  upon  which  either  mainly  or  only  the  infallible 
"judgment  is  to  be  placed,  but  upon  the  Spirit,  as  that  which 
"is  the  firm  and  immovable  foundation." 

And  a  little  further  he  says : 

"Nor  yet  do  I  understand  by  the  Church  every  gathering 
"  or  assembly  of  people  who  may  hold  sound  and  true  princi- 
"  pies,  or  hare  a  form  of  truth;  for  some  may  lose  the  life  anal 
"power  of  godliness,  who  notwithstanding  may  retain  the 
"  form  or  notions  of  things,  but  yet  are  to  be  turned  away 
"from  ;  because  in  so  far  (as  I  observed  before)  as  sanctifica- 
"  tion,  to  wit,  those  that  are  sanctified  in  Christ  Jesus,  male  the 
11  Church,  and  give  the  right  definition  to  it;  where  that  is 
"wholly  wanting,  the  church  of  Christ  ceaseth  to  be,  and  there 
"  remains  nothing  but  a  shadow  without  substance.  Such 
"assemblies,  then,  are  like  the  (lead  body  when  the  soul  is  de- 


190 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN      [CHAP.  XI. 


11  parted,  which  is  no  more  fit  to  be  conversed  with,  because  it 
"  corrupts  and  proves  noisome  to  the  living." 

On  a  serious  consideration  of  the  above  extracts  from 
this  work  of  Robert  Barclay's,  always  acknowledged  by 
the  Society  as  conveying  its  own  principles  on  these  sub- 
jects, and  especially  if  we  take  into  view  the  whole  scope 
of  his  argument,  we  may,  if  candid  to  our  own  best 
feelings,  meet  with  no  difficulty  in  perceiving  that  the 
ground  on  which  our  Friends  of  the  "Smaller  Bodies" 
acted,  both  in  New  England  and  in  New  York,  was 
consistent  with  the  primary  and  vital  principles  of  the 
Society,  as  applied  against  the  inroads  of  fundamental 
error;  although  contemned  by  "the  wisdom  of  the  wise" 
of  this  world  for  its  apparent  weakness,  and  for  the  com- 
paratively small  number  of  those  engaged  therein.  For 
the  words  of  the  apostle  still  hold  good,  that  "  God  hath 
chosen  the  foolish  things  of  the  world  to  confound  the 
wise;  and  God  hath  chosen  the  weak  things  of  the 
world  to  confound  the  things  which  are  mighty;  and 
base  things  of  the  world,  and  things  which  are  despised, 
hath  God  chosen,  yea,  and  things  which  arc  not,  to 
bring  to  naught  things  that  are,  that  no  flesh  should 
glory  in  his  presence." 


1845.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


191 


CHAPTER  XII. 

DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  GTJRNEY  SCHISM  WITHIN  OHIO 
AND  BALTIMORE  YEARLY  MEETINGS. 

For  several  years,  within  the  compass  of  the  Yearly 
Meeting  of  Ohio,  the  state  of  feeling  between  the  advo- 
cates of  the  new  views  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  adherents 
of  the  ancient  principles  of  the  Society  on  the  other,  had 
been  so  decidedly  antagonistic,  that  a  separation  would 
undoubtedly  have  been  the  result,  much  earlier  than 
was  the  case,  had  it  not  been  for  the  earnest  endeavors 
of  the  clerk  of  that  Yearly  Meeting,  aided  by  some 
others,  disciples  of  the  middle  party  of  Pennsylvania 
and  New  Jersey,  to  keep  all  together  and  patch  up  a 
false  peace.  These  endeavors,  however,  not  being  cor- 
rective of  the  disease,  but  merely  palliative,  though  suc- 
cessful in  retarding  the  outbreak,  bore  no  convincing 
power  effectually  to  allay  the  excitement,  or  alter  the 
determination  of  the  innovating  party  to  accomplish 
their  purpose  of  obtaining  control,  whenever  a  favorable 
opportunity  should  occur. 

Their  avowed  grievance  was,  that  the  main  body  of 
the  Yearly  Meeting  (or,  as  they  termed  it,  the  clerk  and 
his  party)  resisted  their  wishes  for  Ohio  Yearly  Meeting 
to  identify  itself  with  the  "  Larger  Body  "  in  New  Eng- 
land. On  this  account,  their  favorite  measure  involved 
a  change  of  the  clerk ;  as  they  hoped,  if  they  could  ac- 


192 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN     [CHAP.  XII. 


complish  that,  to  have  power,  either  to  carry  over  the 
whole  body  with  them  to  the  desired  recognition,  as  had 
been  done  in  Indiana  and  North  Carolina,  or  to  produce 
such  a  separation  as  should,  by  the  fallacious  plea  of 
having  the  clerk,  etc.,  on  their  side,  assume  an  appearance 
which  would  insure  for  them  a  prompt  acknowledg- 
ment by  other  Yearly  Meetings.  They  therefore,  for 
several  years,  stoutly  opposed  the  reappointment  of 
Benjamin  Hoyle  as  clerk,  paying  little  regard  to  his  en- 
deavors to  pacify  and  conciliate  them  by  a  vacillating 
half-wav  course,  so  long  as  he  resisted  their  call  for  a 
definitive  recognition  of  the  Gurneyites  of  New  England. 
The  result  was,  that  for  a  period  of  eight  years,  there 
were  only  two  instances  in  which  the  representatives 
were  able  to  make  a  united  nomination  for  clerk  of  the 
Yearly  Meeting.  They  were  under  the  necessity  of 
reporting  that  they  could  not  agree ;  and  the  Yearly 
Meeting,  by  common  consent  of  all  parties,  uniformly 
pursued  the  practice  which  had  previously  obtained  in 
the  Yearly  Meeting  of  Philadelphia  under  like  circum- 
stances during  the  Hicksite  separation,  of  continuing  the 
old  clerks  at  their  post  until  others  could  be  regularly 
nominated  and  appointed.  The  Women's  Yearly  Meet- 
ing, during  this  time,  had  a  clerk  of  opposite  sentiments 
to  those  of  the  clerk  of  the  men's  meeting,  who  retained 
her  position  on  the  same  principle  under  similar  diffi- 
culties. 

In  the  Yearly  Meeting  of  1845,  both  the  epistles 
coming  from  New  England,  where  the  separation  had 
recently  taken  place,  were  read ;  but  no  further  step  was 
then  taken  towards  a  recognition  of  either  body.  In 
1846,  no  epistles  were  read  from  either  of  them,  and  two 


1854.]  THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


193 


Friends  from  the  "Smaller  Body"  were  even  requested 
to  leave  the  meeting — "  for  the  purpose  of  avoiding  dis- 
cussion " — as  was  alleged.  The  clerk  on  that  occasion 
expressing  that  "  he  was  willing  "  they  should  do  so,  they 
absented  themselves  from  the  meeting,  rather  than  be 
the  apparent  cause  of  great  dissension.  In  1853,  a  mem- 
ber of  the  "  Smaller  Body  "  being  again  present,  four 
sittings  of  the  Yearly  Meeting  were  consumed  in  debat- 
ing whether  he  should  be  excluded ;  but  he  retained  his 
seat,  in  accordance  with  the  wishes  of  a  large  number 
of  Friends.  We  see  by  this,  what  a  sorrowfully  divided 
condition  the  meeting  presented.  The  clerk  meanwhile 
held  the  controlling  power,  and  would  do  nothing  to 
recognize  the  "  Smaller  Body  "  of  New  England,  nor 
yet  to  satisfy  the  Gurney  party,  whom  he  knew  well  to 
be  innovators  and  seceders.  He  would  only  endeavor 
to  coax  them  by  apparently  insincere  or  compromising 
professions. 

On  the  fourth  of  the  ninth  month,  1854,  the  Yearly 
Meeting  assembled,  as  usual,  in  the  great  meeting-house 
at  Mount  Pleasant.  William  and  Charles  Evans  from 
Philadelphia,  and  Eliza  P.  Gurney,  widow  of  Joseph 
John  Gurney,  were  present;  as  was  also  Thomas  B. 
Gould,  a  minister,  from  Newport,  Rhode  Island,  with 
his  companion,  members  of  the  "Smaller  Body"  of 
New  England.  T.  B.  Gould  had  presented  his  minute 
or  certificate  to  the  Meeting  of  Ministers  and  Elders  on 
the  previous  Seventh-day,  where  it  was  thought  best 
not  to  read  it,  the  clerk,  Joseph  Edgerton,  more  or  less 
under  the  influence  of  the  temporizing  party,  proposing 
and  favoring  this  course.  The  minute  of  T.  B.Gould's 
companion,  who  was  not  a  member  of  the  Select  Meet- 

VOL.   II  — 17 


194 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN     [CHAP.  XII. 


ing,  was  placed  upon  the  clerk's  table  of  the  Yearly 
Meeting  while  the  meeting  was  engaged  on  the  subject 
of  credentials,  but  no  notice  was  taken  of  it  by  the  clerk. 
The  Gurney  party  soon  raised  objections  to  these  two 
Friends  sitting  in  the  meeting ;  and  after  saying  a  great 
deal  with  a  view  of  excluding  them,  they  commenced  to 
call  upon  them  to  produce  their  credentials,  or,  if  they 
had  none,  to  make  a  verbal  statement  of  the  cause  of 
their  being  present.  T.  B.  Gould  upon  this  rose  and 
said,  "that  he  had  come  amongst  them  under  a  solemn 
"and  convincing  sense  of  religious  duty,  the  concern 
"  having  long  rested  with  much  weight  upon  his  mind, 
"  and  this  time  having  been  clearly  pointed  out  as  the 
"  proper  one  for  coming,  after  having  turned  the  fleece 
"again  and  again,  and  proved  the  religious  rectitude  of 
"the  concern.  And  not  only  so,  but  that  his  concern 
"  had  been  fully  united  with  by  Rhode  Island  Monthly 
"  Meeting  of  Friends,  of  which  he  had  always  been  a 
"  member ;  and  he  had  been  furnished  with  its  certifi- 
cate, and  the  indorsement  of  Rhode  Island  Quarterly 
"Meeting,  duly  signed  by  the  clerks;  which  Quarterly 
"  Meeting,  after  a  careful  investigation  of  the  Avhole 
"subject,  had  been  decided  by  Philadelphia  Yearly 
"  Meeting  to  be  the  true  and  regularly  established  Rhode 
"  Island  Quarterly  Meeting  of  Friends.  That  these 
"  certificates  had  been  duly  presented  to  the  Select 
"  Yearly  Meeting  the  day  before  yesterday,  but  that 
"owing  to  the  manifestation  of  a  similar  spirit  of  oppo- 
"  sition  to  what  had  been  seen  here,  and,  as  he  supposed, 
"from  a  feeling  of  tenderness  in  the  clerk  toward  those 
"of  opposing  sentiments,  they  were  neither  read  there 
"  nor  introduced  here.    However,  Friends,"  said  he, 


1854.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


195 


"you  may  rely  upon  it,  that,  after  what  has  been  said 
"here,  I  would  not  remain  in  this  house  another  mo- 
"  ment,  if  I  had  not  felt  it  my  duty,  in  the  first  place, 
"to  come,  and  in  the  next  place  to  remain  in  this  meet- 
"  ing,  and  if  I  did  not  also  know  that  I  have  a  right  so 
"  to  do.  So  that  I  wish  it  to  be  distinctly  understood, 
"  that  I  do  not  consider  myself  as  an  intruder,  neither 
"  did  I  ever  intrude  myself  into  any  place  where  I  had 
"  not  a  right  to  go.  I  do  not  ask  for  the  privilege  of 
"sitting  here  as  a  favor,  I  claim  it  as  a  right."  He 
went  on  to  show  that  the  Monthly  Meeting  of  Swanzey, 
which  had  issued  the  minute  for  his  companion,  was  the 
genuine  meeting  of  Friends  at  that  place,  and  that  the 
others  separated  from  it,  as  they  did  also  from  the 
Yearly  Meeting;  adding:  "But,  Friends,  they  [the 
"  Larger  Body]  are  a  body  of  separatists  from  the  order 
"and  discipline,  as  well  as  from  the  principles  and 
"doctrines  of  Friends.  By  these  I  freely  acknowledge 
"  that  I  have  been  disowned  ;  but  I  never  was,  in  any  man- 
"  ner,  out  of  unity  with  or  disowned  by  Friends,  as  so  often 
"stated  in  this  meeting,  nor  until  after  the  separation 
"had  occurred  from  Rhode  Island  Quarterly  Meeting." 
Hereupon  the  most  clamorous  of  the  Gurney  party 
began  to  say,  in  different  parts  of  the  house,  that  they 
were  fully  satisfied  that  it  would  never  do  to  discuss  this 
question  in  that  public  manner.  "  Friends,"  said  they, 
"we  are  losing  ground;  let  us  say  less,  and  act  more 
"firmly;"  and  at  once  they  turned  upon  the  clerk,  urg- 
ing him  to  make  the  meeting  select,  and  rebuking 
him  sharply  for  going  on  with  the  business  as  far  as  he 
had  done,  with  those  strangers  present.  Whereupon 
the  clerk  attempted  to  clear  himself  from  the  alleged 


196  THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN     [CHAP.  XII. 

accountability,  plainly  showing  that  he  did  not  desire 
their  presence  at  all ;  but  tbe  Gurney  party  would  not 
accept  his  excuses,  and  cried  out  that  he  had  previously 
a:id  wholly  disqualified  himself  for  acting  as  clerk.  The 
clerk  endeavored  further  to  clear  himself,  and  said  again 
aid  again:  "Friends,  you  can  make  the  meeting  as 
''  select  as  you  please,  and  I  will  not  object  to  it,  provided 
'•  you  do  so  consistently  with  our  principles,  and  do  not 
•' appeal  to  the  civil  magistrate."*    This  was  contemp- 
tuously rejected,  and  he  was  vehemently  charged  with 
treachery,  in  favoring  or  allowing  the  presence  of  the 
two  strangers.    T.  B.  Gould  now  thought  it  right  to 
say,  "that  the  clerk  was  in  no  way  responsible  for 
"their  presence;  that  he  had  been  scrupulously  careful 
"  not  to  give  them  the  least  encouragement;  and  that  it 
"would  be  great  injustice  to  him  to  charge  him  there- 
"  with  ;  that  as  regarded  himself,  he  had  no  wish  to 
"  deceive  any  one,"  etc.    The  clerk  then  said  :  "Friends, 
"  you  must  see  how  that  the  individual  has  assumed  the 
"  whole  responsibility  of  his  being  here  to  himself." 
This,  however,  was  by  no  means  correct ;  for  T.  B.  Gould 
had  expressly  referred  the  responsibility  to  Him  who  had 
laid  upon  him  the  concern  to  come  thither,  and  who,  he 
l;?lieved,  required  him  to  remain,  and  made  him  willing 
to  suffer  all  this  obloquy  for  the  sake  of  His  precious 
name  and  cause. 

After  a  time,  the  representatives  were  directed,  as 
usual,  to  meet,  and,  if  way  opened,  agree  upon  names  to 
propose  to  the  next  sitting  for  clerk  and  assistant;  and 


*  "Letters  and  Memoirs  of  T.  B.  Gould,"  page  366.  How  the  clerk  expected 
this  to  be  accomplished,  does  not  appear,  unless  it  was  an  invitation  to  them  to 
take  T.  B.  Gould  out  of  the  meeting-house. 


1854.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


197 


the  meeting  then  adjourned  to  the  next  morning.  Dur- 
ing the  interval,  nothing  was  said  to  T.  B.  Gould  by 
any  one,  to  induce  him  to  absent  himself  from  the  future 
sittings.  But  on  the  contrary,  many  Friends  manifested 
their  unity  with  him  in  an  unmistakable  manner. 

After  the  close  of  this  first  sitting,  the  representatives 
convened  as  usual;  but  it  soon  appeared  that  twelve 
out  of  the  forty-two  were  resolutely  bent  on  proposing 
new  names  for  clerk  and  assistant  clerk.  Two  others 
were  understood  to  be  of  the  same  party,  though  not  at 
first  openly  uniting  in  the  measure.  The  remaining 
twenty-eight,  who  did  not  approve  of  the  change,  nor 
of  the  names  proposed,  resisted  this  disorganizing  step, 
knowing  it  would  give  the  control  to  the  Gurney  faction ; 
but  they  were  unable,  as  on  previous  occasions,  to  carry 
forward  any  united  nomination,  the  fourteen  others 
declining  to  join  them  therein.  There  was  no  way  left, 
but,  as  before,  to  report  to  the  Yearly  Meeting  their  in- 
ability to  agree  on  any  names  to  offer  for  its  considera- 
tion. 

The  next  day,  after  the  opening  of  the  meeting  by  the 
acting  clerk,  one  of  the  twelve  Gurney  representatives 
arose  and  said,  that  the  representatives  had  conferred 
together,  and  a  portion  of  them  had  agreed  to  propose 
the  name  of  Jonathan  Binns  for  clerk.  Whereupon 
another  Friend  (Nathan  Hall)  informed  the  meeting 
that  he  had  been  directed,  on  behalf  of  the  representa- 
tives, to  report  that  they  were  unable  to  agree  in  bring- 
ing forward  any  name  for  clerk  or  assistant.  A  clam- 
orous expression  of  approval  of  the  nomination  of  Jona- 
than Binns  now  took  the  place,  for  awhile,  of  any  solid 
consideration  of  the  regular  report.    The  acting  clerk 


198 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN      [CHAP.  XII. 


informed  the  party  that  their  proceeding  was  altogether 
out  of  order,  contrary  to  the  discipline  and  usage  of  the 
Society,  and  to  the  course  pursued  by  that  Yearly  Meet- 
ing for  several  years  past.  Much  noise  and  confusion 
were  made  by  these  persons,  who  urged  Jonathan  Binns, 
and  another  proposed  by  them  as  assistant,  to  go  to  the 
table  and  take  seats ;  all  which  was  decidedly  objected 
to  by  a  large  number  of  Friends.  The  clerk,  in  con- 
formity with  former  usage,  though  perhaps  somewhat 
hastily,  without  waiting  the  direction  of  the  meeting, 
made  a  minute,  stating  that  the  representatives  not  hav- 
ing been  able  to  agree,  the  former  clerk  and  assistant 
were  continued  in  their  respective  stations.  This  minute 
was  sustained  by  a  large  expression  of  unity ;  while  the 
nomination  of  J.  Binns  was  considered  by  many  as  not 
regularly  before  the  meeting,  and  therefore  not  entitled 
to  receive  consideration.  Those  advocating  this  disor- 
derly proceeding  were  warned  even  by  some  of  their 
own  party,  that  such  a  measure,  if  persisted  in,  was  an 
act  of  separation  from  the  Society,  and  were  earnestly 
entreated  to  desist  therefrom.  But  they  persisted  in 
their  attempt  to  divide  the  Yearly  Meeting;  and  even- 
tually their  nominees  were  induced  to  proceed  to  the 
table,  obtrude  themselves  into  the  yet  vacant  seat  of  the 
assistant  clerk,  and  make  a  minute  of  their  own  fictitious 
appointment.  By  this  time  the  afternoon  was  consider- 
ably advanced,  and  the  Yearly  Meeting  adjourned,  by  a 
regular  minute  made  by  the  clerk,  to  10  o'clock  the  next 
morning. 

The  separatists  remained  behind  in  the  house,  pro- 
fessing, with  their  new  clerk,  to  hold  Ohio  Yearly  Meet- 
ing ;  and  after  a  time  adjourned  to  8  o'clock  in  the  morn- 


1854.]  THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


199 


ing.  The  women  who  were  of  the  same  party  met  at 
the  same  hour,  their  clerk  having  made  the  minute  of 
adjournment  to  such  hour  as  the  men's  meeting  might 
adjourn  to.  As  it  happened,  this  suited  both  parties ; 
for  those  who  were  desirous  of  adhering  to  the  ancient 
principles  and  practices  assembled  at  ten  o'clock,  accord- 
ing to  the  adjournment  of  the  Men's  Yearly  Meeting; 
and  finding  that  their  clerk  was  among  the  separatists, 
they  appointed  another,  and  went  on  with  the  regular 
business  of  the  Women's  Yearly  Meeting.  Eliza  P. 
Gurney  had  identified  herself  with  the  separatists,  and 
William  and  Charles  Evans  were  uniting  with  and  en- 
couraging B.  Hoyle's  measures.* 

It  was  supposed  by  some  present,  that  about  one-third 
of  the  members  in  attendance  seceded  from  the  men's 
meeting.  This  meeting,  after  the  secession,  proceeded 
with  its  usual  business,  and  adopted  a  document,  ex- 
planatory of  the  extraordinary  circumstances  which  had 
occurred,  for  circulation  among  its  members  and  in  other 
parts  of  the  Society.  In  the  last  sitting,  toward  the 
close,  Thomas  B.  Gould  rose,  and  after  some  remarks 
respecting  the  Epistles  which  had  been  addressed  to 
other  Yearly  Meetings,  and  the  probability  that  some 
of  them  might  be  rejected  by  the  bodies  to  which  they 

*  The  printed  Journal  of  William  Evans  (p.  G09-10)  gives  an  account  of  this 
Yearly  Meeting.  A  stranger  would  rise  from  its  perusal,  totally  ignorant  of  the 
ground  of  the  dispute  respecting  clerks,  on  which  the  separation  turned.  In- 
deed, in  the  whole  of  that  voluminous  work,  though  many  things  are  mentioned 
respecting  the  Ilicksian  secession,  yet  in  regard  to  the  more  modern  schism,  far 
more  extensive  and  insidious  in  its  spread  over  the  Society,  no  distinct  details 
are  given,  nor  does  the  name  of  ,1.  ,1.  Gurney  or  of  John  Wilbur  appear  in  any 
of  its  700  pages.  His  remarks  on  separations  (pp.  4S'.),  547,  and  585)  are  exceed- 
ingly weak  and  untenable,  implying  that  the  members  would  not  be  justified  in 
endeavoring  to  sustain  by  separation  the  true  Society  of  Friends,  however  cor- 
rupt the  nominal  body  might  become. 


200 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN      [CHAP.  XII. 


were  addressed, — which,  however,  would  be  no  necessary 
cause  of  discouragement,  considering  the  state  of  those 
bodies — he  went  on  to  remark,  "that  we  were  living  in 
"  a  dark  and  cloudy  day ;  that  the  spirit  of  the  world 
"  and  of  the  age  had  so  blinded  the  eyes  and  hardened 
"  the  hearts  of  many  up  and  down  amongst  Friends  as 
"  a  people,  that  it  seemed  as  if  they  would  not  or  could 
"not  believe,  although  a  man  should  declare  the  Truth 
"  unto  them  ;  that  this  was  a  spirit  of  unbelief  in,  and 
"departure  from  the  Truth  ;  that  such  was  the  blindness 
"  which  had  happened  unto  Israel,  that  it  seemed  to  him 
"  there  was  great  need,  even  for  some  who  had  been 
"eminently  gifted  and  deeply  experienced,  to  be  so 
"humbled  under  the  mighty  hand  of  the  Lord,  as  to 
"availingly  put  up  the  petition  for  an  increase  of  faith ; 
"that  so  they  might  be  able  to  adopt  the  language, 
"  Lord,  I  believe,  help  thou  mine  unbelief!  and  that 
"  their  eyes  might  be  opened  to  see  the  way  and  work 
"of  the  Lord  in  this  our  day  and  time,  which  was  a 
"dark  and  stormy  time.  But  the  darkness  and  the 
"  light  were,  in  a  sense,  alike  unto  him;  he  had  his  way 
"in  the  sea,  and  his  path  in  the  deep  waters,  and  his 
"  footsteps  were  not  known,  except  to  such  as  were  made 
"willing  to  follow  him  even  to  prison  and  to  judgment ; 
"  that  clouds  and  darkness  were  round  about  him,  but 
"  righteousness  and  judgment  were  the  habitation  of  his 
"throne.  He  did  verily  believe  that  it  was  at  least  by 
"  His  permission,  that  things  were  being  so  shaken;  and 
"  if  he  was  not  mistaken  in  his  feelings,  the  language 
"  was  applicable,  '  Yet  once  more  I  shake  not  the  earth 
"only,  but  also  heaven  ;'  and  that  everything  that  could 
"be  shaken  would  be  shaken,  that  that  which  was  im- 


1854.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


201 


"  movable  might  remain  ;  yea,  that  He  would  '  overturn, 
"  overturn,  overturn,'  until  He  shall  come  whose  right 
"  it  is  to  rule  and  reign  over  all ;  whose  power  was  in  itself 
"  over  all  the  powers  of  darkness,  and  who  would  yet,  he 
"  firmly  and  renewedly  believed,  be  magnified  in  the  sight 
"  of  those  who  had,  in  different  degrees,  become  forgetful 
"  and  distrustful  of  his  power.  But  it  was  better  to  trust 
"  in  the  name  and  power  of  the  Lord,  than  to  put  confi- 
"  dence  in  princes;  for  the  Lamb  and  his  believing  fol- 
"  lowers  would  have  the  victory  in  the  end,  and  such  as 
"rejected  Him,  and  turned  back  from  following  him, 
"  would  be  confounded  and  brought  to  naught." 

He  added  some  further  weighty  expressions  of  the 
same  character,  and  a  quiet  solemnity  afterwards  per- 
vaded the  meeting. 

It  is  evident  from  the  foregoing  statement,  that  though 
this  separation*  had  cleared  out  from  Ohio  Yearly  Meet- 
ing the  main  body  of  the  original  Gurney  party  there, 
yet  a  prevailing  element  of  weakness  was  left — an  ele- 
ment which,  through  the  influence  of  the  clerk,  and  a 
few  other  prominent  members  more  or  less  attached  to 
the  "  middle  party,"  rapidly  increased  and  prevented  it 
from  assuming  its  right  position  in  the  Truth — prevented 
it  from  bearing  a  practical  testimony  on  behalf  of  those 
its  brethren  who  were  suffering  for  "  the  same  testimo- 
nies "  that  itself  was  professing  and  many  of  its  members 
sincerely  endeavoring  to  uphold — prevented  it  from 
pursuing  the  straightforward  and  manly  (not  to  say 
Christian)  course,  of  holding  forth  the  right  hand  of 
fellowship  toward  those  in  New  England  and  New 

*  The  Letters  of  T.  B.  Gould,  from  page  333  to  page  373, give  a  graphic  and  in- 
teresting account  of  the  circumstances  attending  that  separation. 

VOL.  II. — 18 


202 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN     [CHAP.  XII. 


York  Yearly  Meetings  who  had  given  up  their  names 
to  reproach  for  the  cause  of  the  ancient  faith  of  the 
Society.  It  was  owing  to  this  influence — greatly  pro- 
moted as  it  was  by  an  inordinate  confidence  in  certain 
leading  individuals  in  Philadelphia — that  thenceforth, 
although  the  original  and  open  Gurneyites  had  now  left 
them,  Ohio  Yearly  Meeting  (like  that  of  Philadelphia) 
proved  itself  entirely  inadequate,  as  a  body,  to  the  exi- 
gencies of  the  times,  or  the  duties  which  its  profession 
of  sound  doctrine  entailed  upon  it,  for  the  sustaining  of 
the  ark  of  the  Lord's  testimony  in  a  day  of  deep  revolt. 
It  had  not  the  courage  to  take  any  effectual  steps 
towards  the  practical  or  disciplinary  suppression  of  the 
doctrinal  heresy,  or  towards  the  recognition  of  the 
"  Smaller  Bodies,"  either  of  New  England  or  New  York, 
and  gradually  drifted  into  open  opposition  to  any  such 
course.  Yet  it  is  very  clear,  that  if  Philadelphia  Yearly 
Meeting  had  set  the  example  in  such  a  course,  Ohio 
would  undoubtedly  have  followed  it. 

On  the  other  hand,  those  engaged  in  making  this  se- 
cession promptly  identified  themselves  with  the  "Larger 
Body  "  of  New  England,  and  with  the  promoters  of  in- 
novation in  other  parts  of  the  Society,  and  were  at  once 
acknowledged  as  Ohio  Yearly  Meeting  by  all  the  other 
bodies  controlled  by  the  same  party;  including  even  the 
Yearly  Meeting  of  London,  notwithstanding  the  irregu- 
larity of  their  proceedings  and  the  comparative  small- 
ness  of  their  numbers.  In  the  case  of  New  England, 
London  had  ostensibly  decided  to  own  those  who  had 
the  old  clerk  and  the  preponderance  in  respect  to  num- 
bers ;  but  as  this  rule  would  not  be  found  to  answer  the 
purpose  of  the  party  with  whom  they  fraternized,  in  the 


1845.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


203 


case  of  Ohio,  the  criterion  was  changed,  and  practically, 
though  not  for  the  name  purpose,  the  language  of  Jehu 
was  adopted,  " Who  is  on  my  side f  Who?''  Indiana 
Yearly  Meeting  soon  took  into  consideration  the  weak- 
ness and  small  numbers  of  their  brethren  in  Ohio,  and 
turned  over  to  them  one  of  their  Quarterly  Meetings, — 
that  of  Alum  Creek. 

The  Yearly  Meeting  of  Baltimore  was  one  of  the 
three  bodies  which,  as  we  have  seen,  were  prompt  to  rec- 
ognize the  Gurney  party  of  New  England  in  the  autumn 
of  1845;  which  they  did  without  any  investigation  into 
the  real  merits  of  the  case.  Baltimore  Yearly  Meeting 
at  that  time  consisted  of  the  three  Quarterly  Meetings 
of  Baltimore,  Nottingham,  and  Dunning'a  Creek,  and 
the  Half-year's  Meeting  of  Virginia.  It  had  been  very 
small  since  the  Hicksite  secession  of  1828,  but  had  been 
recognized  by  the  other  Yearly  Meetings  at  that  crisis, 
on  the  ground  of  principle,  without  any  regard  to  the 
smallness  of  its  numbers.  Unhappily  most  of  the  mem- 
bers had,  since  that  time,  been  drawn  in  with  the  mul- 
titude to  sanction  the  views  and  ways,  and  promote  the 
success,  of  J.  J.  Gurney 's  party  ;  yet  in  Nottingham 
Quarter  there  was  quite  a  number  of  Friends,  who  were 
aware  of  the  schismatic  nature  of  the  new  movements, 
and  religiously  concerned,  according  to  their  measure  of 
ability,  to  withstand  them. 

When  the  two  epistles  from  New  England  were  pre- 
sented to  Baltimore  Yearly  Meeting  in  the  autumn  of 
1845,  the  clerk  read  to  the  meeting  the  one  from  the 
"  Larger  Body  "  (which  had  the  usual  signatures  of  clerk 
and  correspondent),  along  with  those  coming  from  other 
places.    He  afterwards  informed  the  meeting  that  there 


204 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN     [CHAP.  XII. 


was  another  paper,  purporting  to  be  an  epistle  from  New 
England  Yearly  Meeting,  with  another  signature;  where- 
upon a  committee  was  verbally  appointed  to  examine 
the  paper,  and  report  whether  it  was  suitable  to  be  read. 
This  committee  withdrew,  and  shortly  returned,  report- 
ing that  it  contained  certain  charges  against  individuals 
and  the  Society,  and  was  unsuitable  to  be  read  ;  adding 
that  as  the  regular  epistle  from  New  England  had 
already  been  read  in  the  meeting,  the  document  in  ques- 
tion, in  their  opinion,  ought  not  to  be  read.  Thus  they 
took  upon  themselves  to  settle  the  whole  question  ;  and 
the  Yearly  Meeting,  with  a  large  preponderance  of  voices, 
adopted  their  view  of  the  case,  and  set  aside  the  "  Smaller 
Body"  as  if  it  had  been  clearly  convicted  of  a  secession 
from  the  Society.  Some  expression  was  made  of  an 
opposite  sentiment,  and  it  did  appear  that  the  committee 
had  laid  the  meeting  under  an  additional  obligation  to 
read  the  epistle,  from  having  disclosed,  or  professed  to 
represent,  a  portion  only  of  its  contents,  and  this  in  their 
own  way.  But  the  general  sentiment  of  the  meeting 
was  in  favor  of  the  report,  and  the  Yearly  Meeting  was 
carried  over  to  the  ranks  of  the  new  party  ;  and  in  order 
to  rivet  their  action  on  the  component  parts  of  the 
Yearly  Meeting,  a  committee  of  thirteen  men  and  fifteen 
Avomen  was  appointed  to  visit  the  subordinate  meetings, 
and  "  render  them  such  advice  and  assistance  as  necessity 
may  require,  and  ability  be  afforded  to  impart." 

Thus  the  individual  members,  as  integral  parts  of  the 
Yearly  Meeting,  became  of  course  complicated  in  the 
connection  established  with  the  "  Larger  Body"  of  New 
England,  and  in  its  support  in  the  departure  from  primi- 
tive Quakerism,  and  its  efforts  to  set  aside  and  disown 


1845.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


205 


all  those  who  saw  their  sandy  foundation,  and  were  con- 
cerned to  point  it  out,  and  to  adhere  to  first  principles. 
The  main  opposition  to  this  course  of  the  Yearly  Meet- 
ing was  from  members  of  Nottingham  Quarterly  Meet- 
ing, in  which  there  was  a  strong  feeling  adverse  to  the 
degenerate  tendency  so  quickly  spreading  over  the  Society. 
A  watchful  care  was  now  maintained  in  that  quarter,  to 
keep  their  own  minutes  at  least  clear  of  entries  indica- 
tive of  unity  with  those  measures,  or  of  owning  the 
"  Larger  Body"  of  New  England  in  the  way  of  accepting 
certificates  or  other  documents  issued  by  them.  And  in 
maintaining  this  care,  it  seemed  to  them  that  at  times  a 
hand  unseen  was  at  work  to  help  them.  But  these  were 
trying  times,  and  great  watchfulness  was  required  on  the 
part  of  clerks  and  others,  to  move  along  with  due  care 
and  circumspection  ;  for  there  was  still  an  element  in  the 
meeting  that  was  aiming  to  lead  it  into  the  popular  cur- 
rent. For  this  purpose,  on  one  occasion  when  the  Yearly 
Meeting's  committee  was  present,  an  effort  was  made  by 
a  portion  of  the  members  to  change  the  clerks  of  the 
Quarterly  Meeting,  so  as  to  obtain  the  control  for  that 
party  ;  but  it  met  with  no  success;  for  after  the  nomina- 
tion was  made,  there  was  so  evident  an  absence  of  ap- 
proval— such  a  silence  over  the  meeting  at  large — that 
even  one  of  the  nominees  declared  that  it  was  very  evi- 
dent they  were  not  acceptable  to  the  meeting  ;  whereupon 
the  subject  was  referred  back  to  the  committee  with  an 
addition,  and  at  the  next  meeting  the  old  clerk  and  as- 
sistant were  reappointed. 

Thus  Nottingham  Quarterly  Meeting  travelled  on,  in 
trial  and  conflict,  for  some  years,  the  sound  Friends  hav- 
ing the  ascendency,  but  with  a  considerable  mixture  of 


206  THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN     [CHAP.  XII. 

such  as  were  disposed  to  favor  the  new  views,  and  under 
a  pressing  sense  of  endeavors  made  from  time  to  time 
for  their  subjugation  to  the  course  pursued  by  the  Yearly 
Meeting.  It  seemed  to  some  of  these  that  they  were 
almost  surrounded  by  snares,  and  they  saw  no  way  of 
escape  as  yet,  nor  any  presentation  of  deliverance  which 
they  could  recognize  as  of  the  ordering  of  Truth.  They 
continued  to  attend  their  Yearly  Meetings,  though  in 
much  heaviness,  and  returned  home  without  relief.  But 
Israel's  unslumbering  Shepherd  was  still  watching  over 
those  who  truly  confided  in  Him,  and  in  his  own  time 
he  opened  a  way  for  their  deliverance. 

As  the  time  of  holding  the  Yearly  Meeting  of  1854 
approached,  these  Friends  became  renewedly  sensible  of 
the  perilous  position  in  which  the  Society  was  placed, 
more  prominently  so  from  the  recent  occurrences  in  Ohio. 
Under  such  circumstances,  the  prospect  of  again  attend- 
ing the  Yearly  Meeting  was  fraught  with  solicitude,  and 
a  concern  was  felt  lest  any  might,  through  zeal,  put  forth 
a  hand  unbidden  to  stay  the  tottering  ark,  or  lest  there 
might  not  be  that  patient  waiting,  quiet  enduring,  and 
firm  adherence  to  a  right  course,  which  might  bring 
peace  to  the  mind  in  the  retrospect..  They  did  not  feel 
at  liberty  to  lay  plans  or  make  contrivances  beforehand, 
as  to  the  course  to  be  pursued,  but  felt  that  they  must 
leave  the  result  to  Him  who  is  the  way,  the  truth,  and  the 
life,  trusting  that  if  it  should  please  him  to  open  a  way 
for  them,  he  would  show  it  to  them  and  go  before  them. 

The  Yearly  Meeting  convened  in  Baltimore  on  the 
23d  of  the  tenth  month,  1854.  Several  epistles  were 
read  from  corresponding  Yearly  Meetings,  and  a  com- 
mittee was  appointed  to  prepare  essays  of  epistles  in 


1854.]  THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


207 


return.  The  clerk  then  informed  the  meeting  that  he 
had  received  two  epistles  purporting  to  be  from  Ohio 
Yearly  Meeting,  one  signed  by  Benjamin  Hoyle,  as 
clerk,  and  the  other  by  Jonathan  Binns;  whereupon  a 
committee  of  twelve  was  appointed  to  read  the  papers, 
examine  such  evidence  as  might  appear,  and  report  to  a 
future  sitting  what  course,  in  their  judgment,  the  Yearly 
Meeting  should  pursue  in  regard  to  those  epistles  and 
the  bodies  from  which  they  issued.  This  committee  was 
joined  by  thirteen  women  under  similar  appointment 
from  their  meeting. 

The  committee  had  two  sittings,  and  prepared  a  writ- 
ten report,  in  which  fellowship  was  professed  with  that 
body  of  which  Jonathan  Binns  was  clerk  (the  Gurney 
meeting),  and  disunity  with  that  of  which  B.  Hoyle  was 
clerk ;  proceeding  to  charge  the  members  of  the  latter 
meeting  with  being  promoters  of  disorder,  in  opposing 
correspondence  with  another  "  Yearly  Meeting  "  (viz., 
the  Larger  Body  of  New  England),  and  in  encouraging 
"disowned  persons"  (members  of  the  Smaller  Body)  to 
sit  in  Ohio  Yearly  Meeting.  This  report  was  signed 
by  nineteen  of  the  twenty-five  members  of  the  joint 
committee.  Six  expressed  disunity  with  it,  but  their 
voices  were  of  no  avail,  and  it  was  laid  before  the  Yearly 
Meeting  on  Third-day  afternoon,  after  the  London  gen- 
eral epistle  had  been  read  and  disposed  of.  The  consid- 
eration of  the  subject  occupied  the  meeting  until  dusk, 
when  the  clerk,  overruling  the  opposition  to  the  meas- 
ure, read  a  minute  adopting  the  report.  Several  voices 
were  still  raised  against  it,  but  a  larger  number  in  its 
favor,  and  it  was  sent  into  the  women's  meeting.  The 
clerk  of  the  men's  meeting  then  read  the  epistle  from 


208 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN     [CHAP.  XII. 


the  Gurney  body  of  Ohio,  and  it  was  referred  to  the 
Epistle  Committee  to  be  replied  to.  Samuel  Cope, 
from  Pennsylvania,  who  was  present,  then  rose,  and 
expressed  himself  in  the  following  emphatic  words : 
"  Well,  Friends,  you  have  joined  yourselves  to  that 
spurious  body  in  Ohio,  of  which  Jonathan  Binns  is 
clerk.  I  have  no  unity  with  it.  I  believe  it  may  be 
said  of  you,  as  it  was  said  of  some  of  old,  Ephraim  hath 
joined  himself  unto  idols;  let  him  alone.  But  Judah 
shall  cleave  unto  her  King."  A  short  pause  ensued  of 
deep  silence,  after  which  the  clerk  soon  read  a  minute 
of  adjournment.  When  he  sat  down,  William  Waring 
rose  and  said:  "Are  there  those  in  this  Yearly  Meeting 
who  feel  bound  to  the  law  and  to  the  testimony?  Can 
these  do  otherwise  than  remain  on  their  seats?  Can 
these  do  otherwise  than  sit  together  and  feel  together  ?" 
The  clerk,  and  those  on  whose  part  he  was  acting,  then 
withdrew,  and  a  small  number  remained  quietly  in  the 
house  until  the  Committee  on  Epistles,  which  had  re- 
mained for  a  time,  also  withdrew ;  when,  after  a  little 
pause,  it  was  thought  best  to  ask  the  women  Friends, 
similarly  circumstanced,  to  come  in  and  sit  with  their 
brethren.  A  Friend  going  accordingly  to  see  how  they 
were  faring,  found  six  female  Friends  sitting  in  profound 
silence,  who,  on  being  invited,  joined  the  men  in  solid 
deliberation.  A  precious  covering  of  good  was  felt  to 
spread  over  this  little  company,  and  they  were  reminded 
of  the  saying  of  our  Savior  to  his  disciples,  "Ye  are 
they  who  have  continued  with  me  in  my  temptations," 
etc.  In  the  sweet  owning  which  seemed  to  be  unmis- 
takably evidenced,  it  was  deliberately  and  unitedly  con- 
cluded that  it  would  be  right  to  endeavor  to  sustain 


1854.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


209 


Baltimore  Yearly  Meeting  on  its  ancient  ground,  irre- 
spective of  those  who  had  now  joined  the  schismatic 
bodies.  This  conclusion  was  united  in  by  all  present, 
including  four  friends  from  Philadelphia  Yearly  Meet- 
ing, viz.,  Samuel  Cope,  Moses  Bailey,  Cyrus  Simmons, 
and  David  Heston. 

The  clerk,  and  those  identified  with  him,  having  with- 
drawn with  the  books  and  papers,  it  became  necessary 
to  appoint  another  clerk,  and  William  Waring  was  re- 
quested to  act  in  that  service  for  the  remainder  of  the 
Yearly  Meeting.  The  women  retired  to  their  own 
apartment,  and  likewise  appointed  a  clerk,  and  both 
meetings  adjourned  to  the  next  morning,  to  meet  in  a 
private  house,  as  the  meeting-house  would  be  occupied 
by  the  seceded  body.  At  subsequent  sittings,  they  ad- 
dressed epistles  to  several  Yearly  Meetings,  and,  in  con- 
sideration of  the  smallness  of  their  number  and  the  re- 
sponsibilities thus  devolving  upon  them,  it  was  concluded 
to  invite  the  Yearly  Meetings  of  Philadelphia  and  Ohio 
to  appoint  committees,  if  way  should  open  for  it,  "to 
sit  with  this  Yearly  Meeting  next  year,  and  join  us  in 
considering  the  propriety  of  discontinuing  it,  and  join- 
ing the  members  to  Philadelphia  Yearly  Meeting." 

A  minute  was  also  adopted,  explanatory  of  the  extra- 
ordinary circumstances  in  which  the  Yearly  Meeting 
was  now  placed,  through  the  schismatic  course  of  false 
brethren  ;  which  minute  contained  the  following  expres- 
sions, among  other  remarks  on  this  crisis : 

"The  particulars  of  the  lamentable  difficulties  in  which  the 
"various  parts  of  our  Society  have  been  involved  during  a 
"past  series  of  years,  are  so  generally  known,  that  we  need 
"  only  briefly  to  refer  to  them  to  make  our  present  position 


210 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN     [CHAP.  XII. 


"  understood  by  the  Society  at  large,  and  by  coming  gener- 
"  ations.  During  a  series  of  years,  doctrines  and  practices 
"have  obtained  currency  in  parts  of  the  Society  of  Friends, 
'•  that  are  an  obvious  departure  from  what  they  have  held  and 
"  observed  in  ancient  times  ;  and  there  has  been  a  diversity  of 
"  sentiment  among  concerned  members,  as  to  the  proper  course 
"to  be  pursued  by  meetings  and  individuals  towards  those 
"  who  may  have  introduced  or  promoted  those  innovations. 
"In  different  places  the  dissension  growing  out  of  this  state 
"  of  things  has  resulted  in  the  separation  of  Yearly,  Quarterly, 
"and  other  subordinate  meetings  of  Friends.  Throughout 
"  these  separations,  it  may  be  observed,  there  is  one  portion 
"  who  are  generally,  if  not  uniformly,  identified  with  an  ad- 
"  herence  to  the  ancient  doctrines  and  usages  of  [the]  Society. 
"And  finding  the  body  claiming  to  be  Ohio  Yearly  Meeting, 
"  with  B.  Hoyle  as  clerk,  in  this  connection,  we  own  it,  have 
"  fellowship  with  it,  and  with  it  continue  our  correspondence." 

They  did  not  at  that  time  suppose  that  either  Phila- 
delphia or  Ohio  Yearly  Meeting  would  become  so  thor- 
oughly weakened  by  submission  to  the  temporizing 
measures  of  the  "  middle  party,"  as  to  decline  correspond- 
ence with  them  from  motives  of  slavish  fear. 

The  meeting,  having  finished  its  business,  adjourned 
on  Fifth-day,  the  26th  of  the  month,  to  meet  again  at 
the  usual  time  the  next  year,  at  Nottingham,  if  so  per- 
mitted. 

This  assembly,  it  must  be  acknowledged,  was  unpre- 
cedentedly  small  for  holding  a  Yearly  Meeting;  there 
being  only  six  men  and  six  women,  members  thereof,  in 
attendance,  besides  the  four  friends  above  mentioned 
from  Philadelphia  Yearly  Meeting.*    If  they  had  been 


*  It  must,  however,  be  borne  in  mind  that  this  small  number  present  at  that 
time  in  Baltimore,  was  acting  on  behalf  of  many  Friends  who  had  remained  at 
their  homes,  composing  a  large  portion  of  the  members  of  Nottingham  Quar- 


1854.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


211 


engaged  in  organizing  or  instituting  a  new  Yearly  Meet- 
ing, it  would  have  been  obvious  that  their  numbers  were 
not  sufficient  to  entitle  them  to  act  in  so  responsible  a 
capacity.  But  this  was  not  the  case.  They  were  only 
engaged,  under  a  solemn  conviction  of  duty,  in  endeav- 
oring to  sustain  Baltimore  Yearly  Meeting  of  Friends 
on  its  original  ground,  against  the  great  defection  into 
which  most  of  its  members  had  been  carried,  and  thus 
to  raise  a  standard  there  for  the  primitive  principles, 
round  which  the  honest-hearted  might  rally,  who  cher- 
ished a  concern  not  to  be  swept  along  with  that  defection. 
And  they  confidently  looked  towards  being  united,  in  a 
short  time,  to  Philadelphia  Yearly  Meeting,  as  one  of 
its  constituent  branches.  This  was  under  the  impression 
that,  should  way  open  for  such  a  course,  before  it  could 
be  consummated,  Philadelphia  Yearly  Meeting  would 
probably  be  relieved  from  the  confusion  in  which  it  was 
then  involved.  Both  this  and  that  would  undoubtedly 
have  occurred,  if  Philadelphia  Yearly  Meeting  had  con- 
tinued to  maintain  a  firm  and  consistent  attitude,  in 
living  faith,  as  the  Truth  required  at  its  hands.  But, 
though  "armed  and  carrying  bows,"  it  "turned  back  in 
the  day  of  battle,"  and  left  all  the  small  bodies  of  Friends 
to  get  along  as  they  could.  Samuel  Cope  afterwards 
acknowledged  in  Philadelphia  Yearly  Meeting,  with 
reference  to  this  little  company  in  Baltimore,  that  "he 
did  not  know  that  he  had  ever  attended  a  meeting,  where 
the  owning  presence  of  the  Head  of  the  church  was  more 
eminently  manifested,"  or  to  that  effect.     He  also  at- 


terly  Meeting;  of  whoso  four  representatives,  three  were  associated  in  these 
transactions.  It  was  i hough t  that  about  one  hundred  friends  attended  the 
Yearly  Meeting  the  next  year  at  Nottingham. 


212 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN     [CHAP.  XII. 


tended  the  Yearly  Meeting  held  at  Nottingham  three 
years  afterwards,  in  company  with  his  wife.  It  would 
thus  appear  that  at  that  time  he  owned  them.  But  how 
sorrowful,  that  some  such  eminently  gifted  servants  of 
the  Lord,  after  seeing  so  clearly  the  apostasy,  and  testi- 
fying so  valiantly  against  it,  as  he  did,  should  eventually, 
under  the  specious  delusions  of  the  middle  system,  which 
they  once  saw  clearly  through,  and  under  the  weakening 
influences  of  a  continuance  in  its  mixed  atmosphere,  have 
lost  their  testimony  for  the  Truth,  and  the  power  of  stand- 
ing upright  against  error ! 

Yet  Philadelphia  Yearly  Meeting,  in  1855,  overlook- 
ing the  principles  on  which  it  had  acted  in  the  case  of 
the  Hicksian  separation  in  Baltimore  in  1828  (see  Vol. 
I,  page  190)  and  under  the  pressure  of  the  Gurney  and 
middle  parties,  with  the  clerk  at  the  head  of  the  latter, 
and  threats  of  a  separation  on  the  part  of  the  former, 
declined  to  accept  a  correspondence  with  this  small  com- 
pany, or  to  accede  to  their  request  of  a  committee  to 
consider  of  their  brotherly  proposal,  or  to  own  them  in 
any  way  whatever.  So  palpable  was  the  inconsistency 
of  the  middle  party  in  thus  casting  away  this  little  com- 
pany in  Maryland,  that  they  were  even  taunted  with  it 
in  the  Yearly  Meeting  by  some  on  the  Gurney  side.  It 
was  firmly  opposed  by  many  sound  Friends,  who  could 
not  bow  the  knee  to  the  new  system — some  of  whom 
have  since  gone  to  their  everlasting  rest. 

Epistles  had  been  addressed  to  Philadelphia  Yearly 
Meeting  by  each  of  the  bodies  in  Ohio  and  also  in 
Maryland,  claiming  its  recognition.  The  question  pro- 
duced much  excitement,  and  very  long  and  painful  dis- 
cussions, in  the  Yearly  Meeting  of  Philadelphia  of  1855. 


1855.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


213 


The  clerk,  William  Evans,  having  already  identified 
himself,  at  the  time  of  the  separation  in  Ohio,  with  that 
body  of  which  Benjamin  Hoyle  was  clerk,  composed  of 
the  sound  members  mixed  with  and  largely  controlled 
by  the  compromising  party,  he  was  of  course  resolute 
against  any  recognition  of  the  Binns  Meeting  ;  and  in 
this  way  the  same  compromising  party  united  with  the 
sound  members  of  Philadelphia  Yearly  Meeting  in  sus- 
taining the  position  of  that  body  in  Ohio,  which  was  still 
standing  professedly,  though  falteringly,  for  the  ancient 
doctrines ;  and  thus  the  Gurney  part)7  were  put  to  a  dis- 
advantage in  their  strenuous  efforts  to  prevent  the 
recognition  of  the  Hoyle  body  by  Philadelphia  Yearly 
Meeting.  But  when  the  question  came  up  afterwards 
respecting  the  separation  in  Baltimore,  no  such  element 
of  weakness  or  disadvantage  for  the  Gurney  party  ap- 
peared; inasmuch  as  the  middle  party  were  then  willing 
to  sacrifice  the  "  Small  Body  "  there  (with  which  the 
clerk  had  not  already  identified  himself)  as  a  peace- 
offering  to  the  highly  excited  feelings  of  the  Gurney 
members.  The  following  very  careful  account  of  the 
deliberations  in  each  of  these  two  cases  on  that  occasion, 
was  given  in  "The  Friend."* 

"The  epistles  from  London,  Dublin,  and  New  York  having 
"  been  read,  the  clerk  informed  the  meeting  there  were  two 
"epistles  on  the  table,  each  purporting  to  come  from  Ohio 
"  Yearly  Meeting,  and  it  would  be  necessary  for  it  to  decide 
••  which  should  be  read.  After  a  short  time  of  silence,  a  very 
"general  expression  in  favor  of  reading  the  epistle  signed  by 
"B.  Hoyle  took  place.  There  were  several,  numbering,  as 
"  we  are  informed,  between  twenty-six  and  thirty,  who  op- 


*  Vol.  xxviii,  p.  2(>2. 


214 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN     [CHAP.  XII. 


"posed  the  reading  of  that  epistle;  only  one,  however,  ex- 
"  pressing  the  desire  to  have  the  one  signed  by  Jonathan 
"  Binns  [the  Guruey  epistle]  read,  and  five  expressing  the 
"  belief  that  the  meeting  for  which  J.  Binns  acted  as  clerk  was 
"  the  true  Yearly  Meeting  of  Ohio.  The  main  objection  urged 
' '  by  the  greater  part  of  those  who  opposed  the  reading  of  the 
"epistle  signed  by  B.  Hoyle,  was,  that  a  decision  in  favor  of 
"the  meeting  for  which  he  acted,  would  cut  Philadelphia 
"  Yearly  Meeting  off  from  the  great  body  of  the  Society,  and 
"therefore  the  whole  subject  ought  to  be  postponed,  and  the 
"meeting  defer  coming  to  any  conclusion  on  it.  Some  of 
"those  who  objected  to  the  reading  of  this  epistle,  stated  their 
"belief,  that  the  meeting  of  which  B.  Hoyle  was  clerk,  was 
"  the  legitimate  Yearly  Meeting,  but  they  were  in  favor  of  a 
"postponement.  Three  times  the  judgment  of  the  meeting 
"was  clearly  manifested,  that  the  epistle  signed  by  B.  Hoyle 
"should  be  read;  and  each  time  the  clerk  rose  to  read  it, 
"when,  as  he  began,  he  was  interrupted,  and  he  patiently 
"  waited  until  all  had  the  opportunity  of  relieving  their  minds. 
"  It  was  a  trying  circumstance  that  all  the  members  could  not 
"  see  alike  on  this  important  subject ;  but  the  dissent  from  the 
"judgment  of  the  great  body  of  the  meeting  was  by  compar- 
atively few,  and  there  appeared  no  probability  of  delay  pro- 
ducing any  good  effect,  as  the  circumstances  of  the  separa- 
"  tion  in  Ohio  could  not  be  changed  by  time,*  and  it  was  in- 
"cumbent  on  the  meeting,  under  right  authority,  to  come  to 
"a  decision  for  itself,  without  reference  to  the  action  of  other 
"co-ordinate  bodies,  to  acknowledge  the  true  Yearly  Meeting 
"  of  Ohio,  and  so  far  show  its  sympathy  with  it,  in  its  peculiar 
"trials,  and  to  express  its  disapprobation  of  the  course  pur- 

*  How  did  this  reasoning  accord  with  the  clerk's  position  in  the  Yearly  Meeting 
of  1850,  when  he  so  earnestly  exhorted  Friends  to  a  delay  of  judgment  in  regard 
to  New  England  ?  And  how  can  we  reconcile  it  with  the  readiness  manifested 
hy  him  in  the  afternoon  sitting,  to  recognize  that  body  in  Baltimore  which  he 
knew  had  united  with  the  schismatic  meeting  in  Ohio,  rather  than  do  anything 
to  encourage  the  little  company  in  Maryland  who  were  endeavoring  to  sustain 
that  Yearly  Meeting  on  the  ancient  ground  until  they  could  be  incorporated 
with  Philadelphia  ?  It  is  well  remembered  by  many,  how  contemptuously  he 
designated  this  small  company. 


1855.]  THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


215 


"sued  by  those  who  separated  from  it.  The  clerk  having 
"  stated  it  to  he  the  judgment  of  the  meeting  to  have  the 
''epistle  signed  by  B.  Hoyle  read  at  that  time,  after  a  sitting 
"of  near  five  hours,  it  was  read,  and  ....  the  meeting  ad- 
journed. 

[Afternoon  sitting]  "The  meeting  being  informed  there 
''were  two  epistles,  each  purporting  to  come  from  Baltimore 
"  Yearly  Meeting,  one  of  which,  coming  from  a  small  number, 
"contained  a  minute,  suggesting  the  consideration  of  their 
"being  united  to  Philadelphia  Yearly  Meeting,  the  question 
"arose,  which  should  be  read.  Considerable  contrariety  of 
"  sentiment  was  manifested,  some  expressing  the  conviction 
"  that,  as  Baltimore  Yearly  Meeting  had  acknowledged  unity 
"with  those  who  had  separated  from  Ohio,  it  was  identified 
"  with  them,  and  its  epistles  should  be  in  like  manner  as  theirs 
"  rejected,  especially  as  some  of  its  members  had  left  it  on  that 
"  account ;  while  others  were  of  the  judgment  that  the  course 
"pursued  by  Baltimore  did  not  invalidate  its  character  as  a 
"  Yearly  Meeting  ;  that  the  separation  of  a  part  of  the  mem- 
"  hers  from  a  Yearly  Meeting  ought  not  to  be  encouraged,  and 
"therefore  the  epistle  [of  the  Larger  Body]  ought  to  be  read.* 
"  The  latter  course  was  finally  adopted,  the  epistle  being  read, 
"and  after  reading  that  from  North  Carolina  (none  having 
"come  to  hand  from  Indiana),  the  meeting  adjourned. f 

"Third-day  morning,  the  17th.  The  printed  General  Epistle 
"  from  London  was  read.  The  subject  of  preparing  epistles 
"to  other  Yearly  Meetings  was  brought  before  the  meeting, 
"  and  some  Friends  expressed  the  belief,  that  under  the  trying 
"  circumstances  in  which  the  Society  was  at  present  involved, 
"  it  would  be  right  not  to  address  those  Yearly  Meetings  that 
"  had  come  to  a  different  conclusion  relative  to  the  separation 

*  It  was  afterwards  conceded  by  an  active  member  of  the  Gurney  party,  that 
"a  large  majority  of  those  who  spoke"  favored  the  reading  of  the  epistle  from 
the  Smaller  Body ;  but  that  the  clerk  was  evidently  determined  that  it  should 
not  be  done. 

t  The  reader  will  please  compare  the  above  weak  reasoning  (which  appears  to 
have  been  the  ground  on  which  The  Friend  reconciled  the  rejection  of  the 
epistle  of  the  "Smaller  Body"  of  Baltimore,  iu  1835)  with  the  ground  on  which 
the  Yearly  Meeting  acted  in  a  similar  case  in  1828 ;  see  Vol.  I,  p.  191. 


216 


THE  SOCIETY"  OF  FRIENDS  IN     [CHAP.  XII. 


"  in  Ohio,  from  that  of  this  Yearly  Meeting.  The  meeting, 
'•however,  settled  in  the  conclusion,  to  address  as  usual  the 
"Yearly  Meetings  of  London,  Duhlin,  New  York  [Larger 
'•Body],  and  Ohio;  also,  if  way  should  open  for  it,  those  of 
''  Baltimore,  North  Carolina,  and  Indiana  ;  the  latter  epistles, 
"if  prepared,  to  contain  an  affectionate  remonstrance  with 
"  those  meetings  respectively,  for  the  course  pursued  by  them 
''in  relation  to  the  separation  in  Ohio.  A  committee  to  carry 
"  out  this  decision  was  then  appointed  .... 

"  Sixth-day  morning,  the  2Uth.  Essays  of  epistles  to  Lon- 
"  don,  Dublin,  Xew  York,  Ohio,  North  Carolina,  and  Indiana, 
"  being  produced  from  the  committee,  they  were  read,  adopted, 
"and  directed  to  be  signed  and  transmitted  to  the  meetings 
"  to  which  they  were  respectively  addressed.  The  committee 
''reported  that  they  were  not  united  in  preparing  an  epistle 
"  to  Baltimore  Yearly  Meeting  at  this  time.  A  few  friends, 
"who  had  on  Second-day  objected  to  the  reception  of  the 
"epistle  signed  by  B.  Iloyle.  now  objected  to  forwarding  that 
"prepared  for  Ohio  Yearh*  Meeting;  and  two  or  three  ex- 
pressed their  dissent  from  the  purport  of  part  of  those 
"  epistles  which  were  addressed  to  North  Carolina  and  In- 
'•diana.  As  the  meeting  was  drawing  to  a  quiet  close,  a 
"  friend,  who  had  repeatedly  expressed  his  opposition  to  the 
"course  pursued  by  it  in  respect  to  Ohio,  proposed  that  those 
"who  united  with  him  in  sentiment  should  stop  at  the  rise  of 
"the  meeting,  and  sit  down  in  silence  to  feel  together.  His 
"friends,  however,  did  not  unite  with  him  in  the  adoption  of 
"such  a  measure,  and  at  their  urgent  solicitation  he  withdrew 
"  his  proposition. " 

The  above  quotation  is  characteristic  of  the  cautious 
and  calculating  manner  in  which  "  The  Friend"  was  at 
this  time  accustomed  to  treat  the  subject  of  the  difficul- 
ties. The  reader  of  it,  if  ignorant  beforehand  of  the 
cause  of  all  that  occurred  in  the  Yearly  Meeting  on  this 
occasion,  would  rise  from  its  perusal  with  no  better  un- 
derstanding of  it  than  before,  and  would  need  to  be 


1855.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


217 


further  informed  that  the  contest  was  not  about  mere 
names  and  clerks,  nor  originally  or  exclusively  in  Ohio, 
but  had  reference  to  some  of  the  vital  principles  of  our 
profession,  as  held  by  our  primitive  worthies,  the  con- 
tinued maintenance  of  which  was  endangered  through- 
out the  Society.  Another  prominent  and  characteristic 
feature  of  this  editorial,  is  that  it  cautiously  abstains 
from  anything  which  would  indicate  truly  the  strength, 
either  of  the  Gurney  portion  of  the  meeting,  or  of  those 
who  advocated  a  firm  and  uncompromising  course,  in 
opposition  to  the  inconsistent,  vacillating,  and  time- 
serving policy  of  the  clerk  and  middle  party.  Both  of 
those  sections  were  at  this  time  very  formidable  in  Phila- 
delphia Yearly  Meeting,  but  the  clerk  and  his  adher- 
ents held  the  control. 

On  the  part  of  the  Giirney  members  there  was  great 
earnestness,  and  a  degree  of  honesty  of  purpose  accord- 
ing to  their  opinions,  though  in  a  wrong  cause.  The 
friends  who  stood  firm  for  the  ancient  faith  and  riyrht 
order,  were  at  least  equally  earnest  and  honest  in  sup- 
port of  their  conscientious  convictions.  Both  were  sen- 
sible that  the  party  which  controlled  the  meeting  was 
not  actuated  by  pure  integrity  of  principle,  but  by  the 
policy  of  compromise,  which  had  no  convincing  efficacy, 
and  was  therefore  submitted  to  only  under  a  sense  of 
oppression  or  compulsion. 

In  the  spring  of  that  year,  Benjamin  Cad  wall  ad  er, 
of  Bucks  County,  Pa.,  had  issued,  in  pamphlet  form. 
"  A  Letter  to  Friends  of  Philadelphia  Yearly  Meeting;" 
in  which  an  affectionate  and  earnest  appeal  was  made  to 
his  fellow-members  against  the  half-way  course  pursued 
of  late  by  the  Yearly  Meeting;  showing  its  inconsist- 
vol  ii. — 19 


218 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN     [CHAP.  XII. 


ency  with  the  truth,  and  the  dereliction  of  imperative 
duty  which  it  involved.  He  reminded  Friends  that, 
though  repeatedly  importuned  by  other  Yearly  Meet- 
ings to  resume  correspondence  with  the  Larger  Body  of 
New  England,  yet  "  in  our  returning  epistles  [to  those 
"Yearly  Meetings]  we  have  not  at  any  time  informed 
"  them  why  we  discontinued  it,  nor  why  we  do  not  re- 
"  sume  it."  And,  on  the  other  hand,  he  earnestly  asked 
them  :  "  Have  we  faithfully  and  conscientiously  offered 
"  the  salutation  of  Christian  love,  and  extended  the 
"right  hand  of  gospel  fellowship  to  those  who  have 
"been  standing  for  the  cause  of  their  Divine  Master, 
"  but  whose  difficulties  and  discouragements  have  been 
"  such  as,  at  times,  almost  to  cause  their  hands  to  hang 
"  down  ?  "  But  such  appeals  had  now  but  little  influ- 
ence with  the  leaders  of  the  party  of  compromise. 

The  two  next  succeeding  Yearly  Meetings  in  Phila- 
delphia presented  very  much  the  same  scenes  of  conflict 
without  decision.  In  that  of  1856,  the  reading  of  the 
epistles  from  the  New  York  and  Baltimore  "  larger 
body  "  meetings,  especially  the  latter,  was  objected  to  by 
many  Friends;  but  Samuel  Bettle  urged  the  reading  of 
them  all,  saying  that  it  would  be  no  compromise  of 
principle  to  read  them,  and  that  the  question  would 
afterwards  come  before  us,  when  the  subject  of  replying 
to  them  should  be  brought  before  the  meeting.  The 
Gurney  party  began  to  threaten  separation  if  they  were 
not  read ;  saying  that  the  meeting  would  separate  itself 
from  the  great  body  of  the  Society,  if  we  persisted  in 
this  course ;  and  that  if  what  was  done  last  year  (viz., 
the  recognition  of  the  meeting  in  Ohio,  of  which  B. 
Hoyle  was  clerk)  was  not  undone,  they  would  be  com- 


1856.J 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


219 


pellcd  to  sustain  Philadelphia  Yearly  Meeting  in  con- 
nection with  the  other  yearly  meetings  of  Friends.  The 
clerk  then,  after  a  time,  read  the  epistle  from  the  New 
York  city  Meeting  (the  Gurney  meeting),  and  expressed 
his  own  willingness  to  have  that  from  Baltimore  city 
also  read,  but  that  he  believed  the  mind  of  the  meeting 
was  against  it.    The  meeting  then  adjourned. 

In  the  afternoon,  Samuel  Bettle,  to  the  surprise  of 
many  Friends,  who  thought  the  matter  settled,  expressed 
his  sentiment,  that  the  epistle  from  Baltimore  city  ought 
now  to  be  read.  Many  of  the  Gurney  party  promptly 
urged  that  this  should  be  done.  But  Friends  stood 
firm  to  their  previously  stated  objections,  and  though 
many  of  the  "middle"  party  wished  it  to  be  read,  the 
mind  of  Truth  prevailed  at  that  time,  and  it  was  again 
decided  not  to  read  it.  Several  of  the  epistles  from  the 
Gurney  Yearly  Meetings  had  exhorted  Philadelphia 
Yearly  Meeting  to  reconsider  its  course  before  it  was  too 
late,  and  we  should  be  cut  off  from  the  "  great  body  of 
the  Society."  This  furnished  a  handle  for  the  party 
here  to  urge  the  annulling  of  what  had  been  done  in 
reference  to  Ohio,  and  the  "  resumption"  of  correspond- 
ence with  the  Larger  Body  of  New  England.  After  a 
time  the  clerk  proposed  to  refer  the  subject  to  the  repre- 
sentatives for  reconsideration.  This  course,  however, 
was  not  adopted. 

On  Fourth-day  morning,  Samuel  Bettle  rose  and  said, 
he  wished  to  relieve  his  mind  of  a  burden  he  had  borne 
for  many  years;  adding,  in  substance,  as  follows:  "That 
he  was  opposed  to  all  separations  and  divisions ;  he  be- 
lieved that  all  that  had  taken  place,  from  the  days  of  the 
apostles  to  the  present  time,  were  caused  by  the  evil  one  ; 


220 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN     [t'HAP.  XII. 


that  he  was  opposed  to  the  Hicksite  separation,  and  be- 
lieved that  patient  labor  and  suffering  would  have  been 
better  ;  that  he  was  opposed  to  cutting  off,"  etc.  A 
friend  replied  to  him,  "  that  so  far  as  our  aged  friend 
was  opposed  to  separations  from  the  Truth,  he  could  fully 
unite  with  him  ;  but  as  his  remarks  would  allow  of  a 
very  different  construction,  he  believed  it  right  they 
should  be  corrected ;  that  if  such  views  as  we  had  now 
heard  had  been  carried  out  in  former  days,  there  would 
have  been  no  reformation  from  Popery,  neither  would 
our  early  Friends  have  come  out  from  among  the  pro- 
fessors of  their  day." 

In  the  afternoon  sitting,  a  document  was  read  from 
London  Yearly  Meeting,  giving  a  statement  of  their 
having  acknowledged  fellowship  with  the  meeting  in 
Ohio,  of  which  Jonathan  Binns  was  clerk  (Gurney 
meeting),  accompanied  with  a  declaration  of  doctrines, 
made  in  the  time  of  the  Hicksian  difficulties;  which,  as 
was  plainly  stated  in  the  meeting  by  Morris  Cope,  did 
not  cover  the  present  ground  at  all,  especially  as  Lon- 
don Yearly  Meeting  had  since  that  time  practically  in- 
dorsed the  unsound  doctrines  of  J.  J.  Gurney,  in  their 
printed  memorial  of  him.  It  was  proposed  by  the 
Gurney  party  to  send  the  London  document  into  the 
women's  meeting ;  but  this  was  objected  to,  and  was 
not  done. 

On  Sixth-day  morning,  when  the  essays  of  epistles 
in  reply  to  other  Yearly  Meetings  were  read,  the  Gurney 
members  in  quick  succession  proposed  the  erasing  of  all 
allusions,  in  our  epistles,  to  Ohio  Yearly  Meeting,  and 
urged  the  meeting  not  to  send  any  epistle  to  that  meeting. 
After  they  had  spent  themselves  in  these  efforts,  Friends 


1856.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


221 


united  with  the  epistles,  and  desired  to  have  them  signed 
and  forwarded.  Samuel  Bettle,  Jr.,  then  proposed  that 
no  epistles  at  all  be  sent  this  year  ;  which  was  supported 
by  the  Gurney  party  and  many  "middle"  men;  but  it 
was  concluded  to  adopt  the  epistles  and  send  them.  The 
meeting  was  now  told  that  by  this  course  we  had  cut 
ourselves  off  from  most  of  the  Yearly  Meetings  in  the 
world,  and  those  who  wished  to  retain  their  rights  in 
the  Society  at  large,  were  called  upon  by  Israel  W. 
Morris,  and  several  others  of  that  party,  after  the  clerk 
had  read  the  closing  minute,  to  come  forward  and  sit 
together,  to  feel  after  what  would  be  best  for  them  to 
do.  It  was  thought  that  about  two  hundred  remained 
together,  who  appointed  a  committee  to  propose  a  plan 
of  action,  and  then  adjourned  to  meet  in  the  Twelfth 
Street  Meeting-house  the  next  morning.  The  commit- 
tee in  the  morning  had  no  plan  to  propose,  and  the  as- 
sembly came  to  the  conclusion,  that  inasmuch  as  Phila- 
delphia Yearly  Meeting  had  regularly  adjourned  for  this 
year  before  any  action  on  their  part,  it  was  too  late  for 
them  to  attempt  to  sustain  the  Yearly  Meeting,  and 
there  was  no  probability  that  London  Yearly  Meeting 
would  sanction  such  a  measure  under  those  defective 
circumstances.  They,  therefore,  dispersed  without  taking 
any  further  steps. 

In  the  year  1856,  finding  the  increasing  tendency 
among  many  to  take  a  superficial  view,  or  rest  in  a  volun- 
tary ignorance  of  the  errors  of  doctrine  propounded  in  the 
works  and  course  of  Joseph  John  <  rurney,  and  to  insinuate 
that  the  objections  to  his  sentiments  were  overstrained,  or 
without  just  foundation,  and  the  objectors  actuated  by  a 
partisan  or  detracting  spirit,  and  needlessly  disturbing 


222 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FKIENDS  IN     [CHAP.  XII. 


the  Society's  peace,  the  author  of  this  work  published 
iu  Philadelphia,  "An  Examination  of  the  Memoirs  and 
Writings  of  Joseph  J.  Gurney,"  in  145  pages,  8vo.  Herein 
he  endeavored  to  draw  the  reader's  attention  to  the  sub- 
stantial character  of  the  principles  of  true  religion,  as 
held  and  declared  by  our  ancient  Friends,  with  various 
brief  passages  from  their  writings  ;  and  then,  by  copious 
extracts  from  J.  J.  Gurney's  publications,  and  from  the 
Memoirs  of  his  Life,  confronted  with  ample  quotations 
from  our  early  authors,  the  proof  was  given  of  the  great 
and  fundamental  difference  between  his  principles  and 
the  primitive  and  characteristic  faith  of  the  Society.  The 
work  was  widely  disseminated,  but  by  this  time  such 
developments  met  with  few  ears  to  hear  the  truth  of  the 
matter,  and  fewer  hearts  prepared  to  endure  hardship 
and  obloquy  in  the  maintenance  of  it.  The  path  of 
error  under  popular  leaders  was  more  smooth  and  easy, 
and,  as  in  the  days  of  the  prophet,  "  the  people  loved  to 
have  it  so." 

At  the  next  Yearly  Meeting  (1857),  strenuous  efforts 
were  made  by  the  Gurney  party  to  accomplish  their 
purpose  of  changing  the  course  of  the  meeting;  and 
they  were  partially  successful,  probably  owing  in  some 
degree  to  their  formidable  demonstration  of  the  previous 
spring.  Great  opposition  was  now  made  by  them  to  the 
reception  of  the  epistle  from  Ohio,  and  a  proposal  was  made 
to  drop  all  the  epistolary  correspondence.  After  much 
discussion,  it  was  proposed  by  Samuel  Bettle,  to  leave 
the  whole  subject  to  a  large  committee,  "  to  take  time," 
and  report  to  a  future  Yearly  Meeting.  He  urged  the 
view,  that  "  time  would  do  a  great  deal,"  forgetting  that, 
in  stemming  the  current  of  schismatic  error,  the  more 


1857.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


223 


time  is  wasted  in  a  neglect  of  known  duty,  the  more 
weakness  is  likely  to  increase,  whether  with  individuals 
or  the  church. 

A  great  deal  was  said  on  all  sides,  but  after  two  very 
trying  sittings  mainly  occupied  with  the  discussion,  with 
threats  again  made  of  separation  on  the  part  of  the 
Gurney  members,  the  epistle  from  Ohio  was  finally 
read.  A  committee  was  afterwards  appointed,  to  pre- 
pare replies  to  the  three  epistles  which  had  been  read, 
viz.,  London,  Dublin,  and  Ohio.  Israel  W.  Morris 
then  called  upon  his  friends  to  stop  at  the  rise  of  this 
meeting,  cautioning  them  not  to  take  any  further  part 
in  the  business  of  the  meeting,  as  it  had  identified  itself 
with  the  Separatists  (as  he  thought)  in  Ohio,  and  had 
cut  itself  off'  from  all  the  Yearly  Meetings  in  the  world, 
the  great  body  of  the  Society.  Quite  a  number  of  the 
party  united  with  this  proposal,  but  Samuel  Bettle  and 
others  earnestly  exhorted  him  to  withdraw  it.  This  he 
declined  to  do,  unless  the  meeting  would  consent  to  ap- 
point a  committee  to  unite  with  committees  of  other 
Yearly  Meetings  in  conference  on  the  whole  subject"  of 
our  difficulties.  Friends  could  see  no  safety  in  such 
reference  of  the  matter  to  parties  already  implicated  in 
bringing  the  schism  upon  the  Society,  especially  as  we 
should  be,  in  such  a  case,  entirely  overwhelmed  by 
numbers,  and  have  no  prospect  even  of  a  fair  hearing 
of  the  true  nature  of  the  difficulties.  A  long  and  earn- 
est discussion  ensued,  some  proposing  one  expedient  and 
some  another;  among  which  were  the  dropping  of  the 
correspondence  not  only  with  London  and  Dublin,  but 
with  Ohio  also,  and  the  appointing  of  the  representa- 
tives as  a  committee,  to  consider  and  report  to  the  next 


224  THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN     [CHAP.  XII. 


Yearly  Meeting,  what  could  he  done  to  harmonize  and 
reconcile  Friends  in  our  own  and  other  Yearly  Meetings. 
These  two  proposals  were  finally  adopted,  with  the  pro- 
viso, that  the  committee  should  not  interfere  to  unsettle 
the  conclusions  already  come  to  by  the  Yearly  Meeting. 
After  a  sitting  of  six  hours,  the  meeting  adjourned. 
The  minute  made  on  the  occasion  was  as  follows: 

"Epistles  from  our  brethren  at  their  Yearly  Meetings  in 
"London  and  Dublin  were  received  and  now  read,  as  was  also 
"the  printed  London  General  Epistle.  In  consideration  of 
"  our  present  condition,  and  the  disunity  that  has  appeared 
"on  some  points,  particularly  respecting  our  epistolary  cor- 
"  respondence,  after  much  time  speut  thereon,  and  the  general 
"expression  of  sentiment  by  Friends,  it  was  concluded  to  sus- 
"  pend,  for  this  year,  an  epistolary  correspondence  with  all 
"  the  Yearly  Meetings  ;  and  the  subject  of  the  great  impor- 
"  tance  and  the  desirableness  of  the  restoration  of  unity  and 
"harmony,  both  amongst  the  members  of  this  Yearly  Meet- 
"ing  and  in  the  Society  at  large,  being  brought  into  view,  it 
"was,  under  [after?]  solid  deliberation,  concluded  to  refer  its 
"present  condition  to  the  representatives  of  the  Quarterly 
"Meetings  in  this  meeting,  as  a  committee,  now  appointed 
"weightily  to  deliberate  thereon,  and,  if  way  opens,  to  pro- 
"  pose  any  measures  for  this  meeting  to  adopt,  which  they 
"  ma}-  hope  will  contribute  to  the  increase  of  unity  ;  to  make 
"  a  Report  to  this  meeting  next  year  ;  it  being  clearly  under- 
"  stood,  that-  they  are  not  to  interfere  with,  or  unsettle,  any 
"of  the  previous  decisions  which  this  meeting  has  come  to." 

This  Committee  of  Representatives,  after  a  whole 
year's  time  for  consideration  of  the  difficulties  which 
were  the  weighty  subject  of  their  appointment,  were  not 
able  to  agree  on  any  measure,  except  to  report  to  the 
next  Yearly  Meeting,  that  "  the  way  did  not  open  to 


1858.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


225 


recommend  the  resumption  of  our  correspondence  with 
other  Yearly  Meetings  at  the  present  time." 

Thus  did  Philadelphia  Yearly  Meeting,  in  order  to 
avoid  a  separation  threatened  by  those  who  had  adopted 
the  new  principles,  weakly  drift  away,  not  only  from  any 
epistolary  correspondence  with  the  "smaller  bodies"  of 
New  England,  New  York,  and  Maryland,  but  also  from 
the  "larger  body"  of  Ohio,  which  professed  to  be  up- 
holding the  ancient  doctrines,  and  whose  position  the 
clerk  had  sanctioned  by  his  presence  and  co-operation 
at  the  time  of  the  separation.  It  has  seemed  to  be  right 
to  relate  these  circumstances  somewhat  in  detail,  that  a 
clear  understanding  may  be  had  of  the  entangled  con- 
dition of  Philadelphia  Yearly  Meeting  at  this  time, 
and  of  the  gradually  increasing  weight  of  unsoundness 
pressing  upon  it,  under  which  it  eventually  gave  way, 
and  yielded  to  the  temporizing  measures  of  the  middle 
party. 


vol.  ii. — 20 


226 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN    [CHAP.  XIII. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

THE  SEPARATION  IN  IOWA,  AND  THE  MISCHIEF 
EFFECTED  THERE  BY  THE  MIDDLE  PARTY. 

We  have  already  seen  that  Indiana  Yearly  Meeting, 
as  a  body,  promptly  avowed  its  fellowship  with  the 
"  Larger  Body,"  or  Gurney  Meeting  of  New  England, 
soon  after  the  occurrence  of  the  separation  there  in  1845. 
Since  that  time,  constant  efforts  had  been  made  to  shut 
out  from  the  members  of  that  very  large  Yearly  Meet- 
ing the  means  of  obtaining  correct  information  relative 
to  the  true  causes  of  the  schism.  But  a  small  portion 
of  the  members  residing  in  Iowa,  in  and  near  Cedar 
County,  who  had  gone  thither  within  a  few  years  from 
other  parts  of  the  Society,  and  who  liad  already  more  or 
less  of  a  correct  understanding  of  the  circumstances  in 
which  the  Society  was  now  placed,  were  disposed  to  ad- 
.here  to  the  ancient  faith,  and  to  own  fellowship  with 
those  who  were  suffering  in  New  England  and  elsewhere 
for  their  testimony  to  that  ancient  faith. 

In  the  spring  of  1853,  a  minister  from  Ohio  settled  in 
that  vicinity,  who  had,  some  years  before,  expressed 
publicly  in  Ohio  Yearly  Meeting  his  unity  with  the 
"  Smaller  Body  "  of  New  England  ;  and  although,  after 
his  removal  into  Iowa,  he  kept  himself  very  quiet  on- 
the  subject,  yet  this  expression  had  been  treasured  up 
against  him,  and  circulated  about  where  he  went,  and  it 


1854.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


227 


was  determined  by  some  in  assumed  authority  in  Indiana 
Yearly  Meeting  (to  which  at  that  time  Iowa  was  at- 
tached) to  have  him  disowned. 

One  of  the  members  making  a  social  visit  at  his  house, 
entered  freely  into  conversation  with  him  on  the  affairs 
of  the  Society,  and  after  a  while  inquired  of  him  what 
he  would  do,  in  case  a  separation  should  occur  in  Ohio 
Yearly  Meeting,  on  the  ground  of  the  New  England 
difficulty.  To  this  he  replied  that  he  should  maintain 
the  position  he  had  taken,  even  if  he  should  stand  alone. 
This  avowal  was  reported  afterwards  to  the  members  of 
the  Select  Meeting,  and  was  by  them  considered  and 
treated  as  a  declaration  of  disunity  with  Indiana  Yearly 
Meeting.  He  was  visited  on  the  subject,  as  a  delinquent, 
and  though  he  was  able  to  show  them  that  what  he  had 
said  was  by  no  means  what  they  charged  him  with,  and 
was  enabled  to  clear  himself  to  such  a  degree  that  he 
did  not  know  but  that  they  had  dropped  the  matter,  yet 
some  months  afterwards  they  brought  a  charge  against 
him  into  the  Select  Preparative  Meeting  of  Red  Cedar, 
without  his  being  informed  of  the  continuance  of  any 
uneasiness  with  him ;  the  tenor  of  which  complaint 
was,  that  he  had  manifested  disunity  with  the  body  of 
Friends. 

At  Red  Cedar  Monthly  Meeting,  held  in  the  sixth 
month,  1854,  he  mentioned  the  course  which  the  Select 
Preparative  Meeting  was  taking  against  him,  and  his 
own  innocence  in  regard  to  the  charge  ;  advising  the 
members  to  endeavor  to  obtain  a  correct  knowledge  of 
the  difficulties  in  the  Society,  and  particularly  mention- 
ing the  Philadelphia  "  Appeal  for  the  Ancient  Doc- 
trines," and  the  "  Report  on  the  Division  in  New  Eng- 


228 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN     [CHAP.  XIII. 


land,"  as  setting  forth  the  matter,  according  to  his 
apprehension,  in  its  true  light.  This  was  probably 
looked  upon  as  an  aggravation  of  his  offence;  for  at  the 
next  Preparative  Meeting  for  discipline,  held  at  Linn, 
of  which  he  was  a  member,  a  complaint  was  brought 
against  him  by  the  Overseers,  charging  him  with  mani- 
festing disunity  with  the  body  of  Friends,  and  owning 
fellowship  with  the  Smaller  Body  in  New  England, 
whose  meetings,  they  said,  were  set  up  contrary  to  the 
order  and  discipline  of  the  Society.  The  subject  being 
unexpected,  the  Preparative  Meeting  was  not  prepared 
at  once  to  forward  the  complaint  to  the  Monthly  Meet- 
ing, or  to  take  it  on  minute,  but  verbally  referred  it  to 
a  committee  of  four  Friends,  to  investigate  the  cause  of 
complaint  and  report  to  the  next  meeting. 

At  the  Preparative  Meeting  in  the  eighth  month,  this 
committee  made  the  following  report,  viz. : 

"  We  have  given  close  attention  to  the  subject,  have  heard 
"  the  Overseers  in  all  they  alleged  against  him,  and  after  con- 
"  ferring  together  were  united  in  judgment,  that  there  is  no 
"just  cause  for  such  complaint,  or  ground  on  which  such 
"  charge  can  be  sustained.  We  find  that  he  is  firmly  attached 
"  to  the  principles,  the  doctrines,  and  testimonies  of  our  So- 
"  ciety,  as  upheld  by  Fox,  Penn,  Barclay,  and  others  of  our 
"  standard  writers,  and  closely  united  to  all  our  members  in 
"the  different  Yearly  Meetings  who  are  concerned  to  support 
"them.  We  therefore  think  it  best  and  right  to  dismiss  the 
"  subject." 

This  report  being  satisfactory  to  the  meeting,  the  sub- 
ject was  accordingly  dismissed. 

Yet,  notwithstanding  this  decision  of  the  Preparative 
Meeting,  that  there  was  no  just  cause  for  the  complaint, 


1854.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


229 


the  Overseers  carried  it  to  the  next  Monthly  Meeting; 
thus  arbitrarily  assuming  the  power  to  set  aside  one  of 
the  very  purposes  for  which  Preparative  Meetings  were 
instituted,  and  showing  that  the  attainment  of  a  prede- 
termined purpose,  and  not  justice  or  gospel  order,  was 
what  they  aimed  at.  In  the  Monthly  Meeting,  not- 
withstanding the  disorderly  manner  in  which  the  com- 
plaint was  introduced,  overstepping  the  rights  both  of 
the  individual  and  of  the  Preparative  Meeting,  three 
members  of  a  committee  of  the  Yearly  Meeting  being 
present,  undertook  to  approve  of  its  reception,  alleging 
that  extraordinary  cases  required  extraordinary  treat- 
ment, and  that  sometimes  it  was  needful,  under  peculiar 
circumstances,  to  step  aside  from  the  well-known  and 
beaten  track  of  the  Discipline  !  A  few  members  of  Red 
Cedar  Monthly  Meeting  united  with  them  in  support  of 
the  complaint,  yet  the  clearly  expressed  judgment  of  the 
meeting  was  against  so  irregular  a  proceeding;  but  the 
clerk,  under  the  influence  of  the  new  views,  and  of  the 
Yearly  Meeting's  committee,  recorded  the  complaint  and 
made  a  minute  appointing  a  committee  to  treat  with  the 
friend  thereon.  At  this  juncture  the  reception  of  the 
name  of  any  friend  for  the  appointment,  w  ho  was  known 
to  have  sympathy  for  the  individual,  or  was  of  his  way 
of  thinking,  was  openly  objected  to,  and  the  committee 
was  thus  "  packed  "  in  accordance  with  the  wishes  of  the 
instigators  of  these  irregular  proceedings. 

This  minute  appointing  the  committee  was  objected 
to  by  Friends,  as  not  being  an  act  of  the  meeting,  or 
according  to  its  judgment  ;  but  the  clerk  retained  it,  and 
proceeded  with  other  business. 

When  the  committee  came  to  visit  the  friend,  they 


230  THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN     [CHAP.  XIII. 


were  asked  by  him,  whether  they  were  willing  to  hear 
the  truth,  and  give  due  place  to  it  ;  to  which  they  re- 
plied, "  Oh,  yes,  certainly  we  are."  He  then  declared 
that  the  charges  brought  against  him  were  not  correct, 
and  asked  them  whether,  in  case  he  should  prove  to  them 
that  they  were  incorrect  and  false,  they  would  inform  the 
Monthly  Meeting  so?  They  answered  promptly  and 
decidedly,  "  No,  we  will  not ;  that  is  not  our  business  ; 
we  were  appointed  to  find  out  thy  disposition  of  mind, 
and  not  whether  the  charges  are  correct  or  not !"  And 
one  of  them  added,  "We  admit  thee  has  been  quiet  in 
regard  to  the  New  England  difficulty,  but  there  is  a 
heavy  undercurrent  running,  which  must  be  stopped  !" 

At  the  next  Monthly  Meeting,  the  friend  thus  com- 
plained against  was  requested  to  withdraw,  after  the 
meeting  was  opened  for  business  ;  but  several  of  the 
members,  knowing  that  the  case  was  before  the  meeting 
in  a  disorderly  manner,  objected  to  his  withdrawal,  under 
the  consideration  that  if  the  meeting  allowed  him  to 
withdraw,  it  would  in  effect  give  countenance  to  this 
irregular  proceeding.  They  took  the  ground  that  the 
clearly  expressed  sense  and  judgment  of  the  Monthly 
Meeting  had  been  against  the  charge  being  placed  on 
minute,  and  therefore  they  could  not  consent  to  his 
leaving  the  meeting.*  The  Friend,  however,  himself 
proposed  to  leave  the  meeting,  after  the  clerk  should 
have  read  the  minute  in  his  case,  and  the  committee 
should  have  reported,  in  case  their  report  did  not  exon- 
erate him,  and  propose  the  dismissal  of  the  complaint ; 


*  This  is  to  be  regretted,  inasmuch  as,  whether  irregularly  introduced  and 
pressed,  or  not,  the  complaint  had  been  recorded  on  the  minutes  of  the  Monthly 
Meeting,  and  a  committee  appointed  to  visit  him,  which  he  had  received. 


1854.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


231 


for  he  was  willing  that  the  meeting  should  have  an  op- 
portunity to  decide  the  matter  in  his  absence,  as  usual. 
But  while  he  waited  for  the  meeting  to  decide  upon  this 
proposal,  one  in  the  station  of  a  minister  proposed  that 
the  meeting  should  adjourn.  This  was  united  with  by 
one  or  two,  and  though  objected  to  by  several  others, 
the  clerk  soon  prepared  a  minute,  and  stated  that  he  had 
it  in  readiness,  if  Friends  could  agree  on  a  time  and  place 
to  adjourn  to.  It  being  now  manifest  that  he  was  deter- 
mined not  to  act  in  unison  with  the  solid  sense  of  the 
meeting,  but  to  thwart  it  under  the  influence  of  a  party, 
for  a  corrupt,  and  irregular,  and  oppressive  purpose, 
those  holding  the  ancient  doctrines  took  the  matter  into 
their  own  hands,  and  before  he  finished  his  minute  of 
adjournment,  appointed  another  member  to  serve  the 
meeting  as  clerk  in  his  place.  The  new  clerk  soon  read 
a  minute,  stating  in  a  few  words  the  disqualification  of 
the  former  clerk,  and  his  own  appointment ;  after  which 
the  former  clerk  read  his  minute  of  adjournment,  and 
taking  his  books  and  papers,  withdrew  from  the  house, 
with  a  considerable  portion  of  the  members  (several  of 
whom  had  nevertheless  opposed  his  minuting  of  the 
complaint),  leaving  the  rest  to  transact  the  business  of 
the  Monthly  Meeting  in  quietness.* 

In  regard  to  this  extraordinary  transaction,  it  appears 
that  the  hasty  adjournment  of  the  meeting  by  the  clerk 
and  a  few  others,  can  have  had  only  one  object,  to  pro- 
voke a  separation,  and  thereby  obtain  for  themselves  the 
power  to  accomplish  their  purpose  of  disowning  the 
minister  in  question,  who  was  not  of  their  way  of  think- 

*  "  Exposition  of  Proceedings  which  led  to  a  separation  in  Red  Cedar  Monthly 
and  Salem  Quarterly  Meetings."   Marion,  Iowa,  1855;  page  8,  etc. 


232 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN     [CHAP.  XIII. 


ing.  Whether  it  was  wise  in  those  who  opposed  the 
clerk's  disorderly  course,  to  act  so  promptly  as  they  did, 
or  whether  it  would  not  have  been  better  to  have  let  the 
matter  go  on,  with  a  prospect  of  appealing,  is  a  question 
which  may  admit  of  some  doubt.  They  knew  that  this 
whole  transaction  was  instituted,  as  implied  by  one  of 
the  committee,  to  stop  the  "heavy  undercurrent"  of  op- 
position to  the  unsound  doctrines  introduced  into  the 
Society ;  and  that  Indiana  Yearly  Meeting  having 
already  identified  itself  with  the  promotion  of  these  un- 
sound doctrines  and  practices,  any  appeal  to  it  would 
assuredly  only  confirm  the  oppressive  measures.  They 
were  fully  persuaded  from  what  had  already  occurred,  and 
from  the  state  of  things  in  Indiana  Yearly  Meeting,  that 
their  case  was  hopeless  of  any  favorable  countenance  from 
those  who  controlled  the  proceedings  of  that  body;  and 
they  believed  themselves  imperatively  called  upon  (re- 
gardless of  the  painful  consecpienees  that  must  ensue, 
and  that  would  ensue  indeed  in  either  case,  if  they  re- 
mained firm  to  their  convictions),  to  endeavor  to  sustain 
the  ancient  principles  and  practices  of  the  Society,  and 
to  testify  against  the  promoters  of  these  disorderly  meas- 
ures, as  seceders  from  the  faith  and  discipline  of  Friends. 
The  most  questionable  act,  on  their  part,  if  it  was  really 
questionable,  was  the  summary  displacement  of  the  clerk 
who  so  palpably  abused  his  office,  and  appointment  of  a 
new  one  who  would  truly  serve  the  meeting,  instead  of 
thwarting  its  judgment  for  party  purposes.  This  was 
an  extreme  measure.  Was  it  an  unjustifiable  one? 
According  to  the  mere  letter  of  the  Discipline,  perhaps 
it  might  be  so  considered.  But  we  must  remember  that 
the  clerk  was  manifestly  and  persistently  acting,  not  for 


1854.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


233 


the  meeting  that  appointed  him,  but  for  a  party,  which 
had  the  entire  control  of  Indiana  Yearly  Meeting,  and 
was  now  engaged  in  promoting  a  schism  through  the 
whole  Society ;  that  this  transaction  on  the  part  of  the 
clerk  was  obviously  a  part  of  that  schismatic  course;  and 
that  those  who  dissented  from  it,  were  actuated  by  a 
conscientious  conviction  of  its  schismatic  character,  and 
a  sense  of  the  obligation  which  lay  upon  them  to  stand 
for  the  ancient  faith.  Hei*ein,  it  seems  to  the  writer, 
rests  their  justification  in  acting  so  promptly  (instead  of 
waiting  to  displace  the  clerk  in  a  more  regular  manner, 
which  they  certainly  had  a  right  to  do),  and  not  taking 
the  usual  course  of  an  appeal,  which  in  this  case  would 
have  been  to  a  body  implicated  already  in  the  schism. 

The  remaining  steps  of  this  separation,  involving  its 
extension  to  the  Quarterly  Meeting,  may  be  told  in  a 
few  words.  Both  the  bodies  claiming  to  be  Red  Cedar 
Monthly  Meeting  sent  up  reports  and  representatives  to 
the  Quarterly  Meeting ;  the  report  from  the  Gurney 
party  including  a  proposal  for  the  laying  down  of  Linn 
Preparative  Meeting,  as  insubordinate  to  the  Monthly 
Meeting.  A  committee  was  appointed  to  examine  both 
reports,  who  suggested  to  the  Quarterly  Meeting  to 
read  the  one  from  the  Gurney  party.  Friends  of  the 
ancient  views  urged  that  the  Quarterly  Meeting  should 
itself  examine  into  the  merits  of  the  case,  saying  that 
they  were  willing  that  the  whole  matter  should  be  in- 
vestigated. The  meeting  appeared  to  be  about  to  take 
that  course,  when  a  member  of  a  committee  of  the 
Yearly  Meeting  to  visit  Salem  Quarterly  Meeting  inter- 
fered, saying,  "  Take  care,  Friends,  mind  what  you  are 
about ;  it  may  be  you  will  get  into  difficulty."  The 


234 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN     [CHAP.  XIII. 


others,  feeling  confident  that  the  matter  was  not  under- 
stood, still  urged  that  the  meeting  should  not  proceed 
without  giving  them  a  hearing.  The  Yearly  Meeting's 
committee  then  proposed  that  the  Linn  Preparative 
Meeting  might  be  laid  down,  and  a  committee  should 
be  appointed  to  visit  lied  Cedar  Monthly  Meeting. 
This  was  accordingly  done. 

But  this  committee  declined  to  attend  any  other  than 
the  Monthly  Meeting  of  Red  Cedar  belonging  to  the 
Gurney  party.  They,  however,  appointed  a  conference, 
at  which  Friends  of  the  other  Meeting  attended,  and 
gave  an  account  of  the  reasons  which  had  induced  their 
present  position.  This  account,  and  the  discussion 
which  ensued,  seem  to  have  had  some  convincing  effect ; 
for  though  one  or  two  of  the  committee  advised  them  to 
"  return  to  the  body,"  and  "  endeavor  to  right  it,  if  it 
had  erred  yet  another  remarked,  "  If  I  understand 
this  people  aright,  they  regard  themselves  as  the  legiti- 
mate Monthly  Meeting,  and  say  they  have  peace  of 
mind  in  the  course  they  have  pursued.  Now,  to  what 
shall  we  urge  them  to  return — to  disorder  and  confu- 
sion ?"  And  another  said,  "  No  doubt  but  that  the 
Monthly  and  Quarterly  Meetings  had  acted  too  hasty." 

The  committee,  however,  made  no  proposition  to  the 
next  Quarterly  Meeting,  in  the  fifth  month,  for  the  re- 
lief of  these  Friends,  and  the  Quarterly  Meeting  again 
refused  to  receive  their  representatives  and  report. 
They,  therefore,  quietly  sat  until  the  innovating  party 
had  finished  its  business,  and  then  appointed  a  fresh 
clerk,  held  Salem  Quarterly  Meeting  on  the  ground  of 
the  ancient  principles  of  the  Society,  and  adjourned  to 
meet  at  the  meeting-house  at  Red  Cedar. 


1855.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


235 


For  some  time  afterwards  this  company  of  Friends  in 
Iowa,  notwithstanding  some  sources  of  weakness,  went 
on  in  a  good  degree  of  harmony  and  circumspection, 
and  increased  in  numbers.  They  appeared  to  bid  fair 
to  take  a  satisfactory  place  among  the  remnants  con- 
cerned to  stand  for  the  ancient  faith,  scattered  in  differ- 
ent portions  of  this  land.  Considerable  additions  to  the 
Quarterly  Meeting  were  experienced  by  immigration  of 
Friends'  families  from  Ohio,  though  this  was  not  always 
an  element  of  increase  of  strength.  Salem  Quarterly 
Meeting  then  contained  the  three  Monthly  Meetings  of 
Red  Cedar,  Linn,  and  Hesper ;  Linn  Monthly  Meeting 
having  a  branch  at  Prairie  Ridge.  Their  position  as 
fellow  testimony-bearers  in  the  Western  country  was 
hailed  with  satisfaction  and  comfort  by  the  smaller 
bodies  to  the  eastward,  who  trusted  that  a  standard  was 
now  at  length  raised  within  Indiana  Yearly  Meeting,  to 
which  the  honest-hearted  might  rally  for  the  defence  of 
the  Truth.  But,  alas,  the  devices  of  the  enemy  of  all 
righteousness  are  unceasing,  and  especially  dangerous 
when  they  work  in  a  mystery,  assuming  the  appearance 
of  good. 

If  they  who  controlled  the  proceedings  of  Philadel- 
phia and  Ohio  Yearly  Meetings  had  faithfully  stood  to 
the  ground  which  they  had  at  first  taken,  they  would 
have  been  led,  as  a  matter  of  plain  and  indispensable 
duty,  to  own  fellowship  with  the  Smaller  Bodies  in 
other  places,  and  would  thus  have  been  eminently  in- 
strumental to  their  encouragement  and  growth  in  the 
Truth  ;  and  there  is  no  reasonable  ground  for  doubt  that, 
under  such  circumstances,  a  large  body  of  sound  Friends 
might  have  been  preserved  and  strengthened  in  the 


236  THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN     [CHAP.  XIII. 


faith,  whose  united  testimony  and  example  would  have 
had  a  powerful  influence  over  the  Society  at  large,  in 
checking,  if  not  in  frustrating  to  a  great  extent,  the 
endeavors  of  the  advocates  of  innovation.  But  instead 
of  this,  the  course  of  those  two  Yearly  Meetings,  under 
the  paralyzing  influence  of  fear,  and  of  the  half-way 
system,  tended  greatly  to  the  discouragement  and  dis- 
memberment of  all  the  Smaller  Bodies;  and  on  some  of 
the  members  of  these,  who  were  not  deeply  grounded  in 
religious  experience,  the  effects  thereof  were  particularly 
disastrous.  The  "  middle  party"  in  Ohio  perceived  that 
not  a  few  of  their  members  were  emigrating  to  Iowa, 
and  likely  to  join  the  meetings  of  this  small  company 
there,  rather  than  connect  themselves  with  the  Gurney 
party.  They,  therefore,  set  themselves  to  work,  not 
merely  to  avoid  strengthening  the  hands  of  this  small 
body  of  Friends,  but  even  to  weaken  and  scatter  them, 
by  furnishing  another  method  by  which  the  emigrant 
families  from  Ohio  might  be  organized  into  meetings, 
without  joining  those  which  the  leaders  of  that  party 
chose  to  consider  as  separate  meetings.  Some  of  those 
already  members  of  Salem  Quarterly  Meeting  were, 
besides,  known  to  be  more  or  less  weak  in  the  faith,  and 
easily  discouraged,  and  this  device  would  be  a  trap  into 
which  they  would  readily  fall,  and  thus  diminish  the 
unity  as  well  as  the  numbers  of  those  who  should  stand 
too  firm  to  be  taken  by  that  bait.  Accordingly,  regard- 
less of  the  fact  that  Iowa  was  within  the  compass  of 
Indiana  Yearly  Meeting  (which  Philadelphia  still  recog- 
nized by  the  interchange  of  certificates),  and  that  a 
Quarterly  Meeting  of  Friends  sound  in  the  faith  had 
already  been  sustained  there,  they  undertook  to  estab- 


I860.]  THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY.  237 

lish  meetings  of  their  own  within  its  boundaries,  to  be 
considered  as  belonging  at  first  to  Stillwater  Quarterly 
Meeting,  Ohio,  of  which  Benjamin  Hoyle,  the  leader  of 
the  Ohio  middle  party,  was  a  member. 

Among;  those  who  had  taken  the  stand  above  de- 
scribed  in  Salem  Quarterly  Meeting,  there  were  some 
who  were  somewhat  favorable  already  to  the  half-way 
system,  and  others  too  ready  with  self-active  schemes 
for  sustaining  the  cause  in  which  they  were  engaged. 
On  the  establishment  of  meetings  in  their  neighbor- 
hoods, owned  and  assisted  by  Ohio  Yearly  Meeting, 
these  were  easily  enticed  away  from  the  isolated  and 
comparatively  unowned  "smaller  body;"  or  if  not  en- 
ticed entirely  away,  were  more  or  less  loosened  from 
their  moorings,  and  readily  gave  an  ear  to  things  tend- 
ing still  further  to  alienate  them.  .  Thus  disunity  and 
disintegration  began  to  creep  in,  to  the  great  danger  of 
that  "smaller  body,"  as  many  of  their  members  left 
them,  to  join  what  they  thought  were  more  regularly 
organized  meetings.  The  more  honest-hearted  portion 
of  the  members,  meanwhile,  endeavored  to  struggle 
against  the  strong  tide  brought  to  bear  upon  them. 
But  nearly  all  the  members  of  Red  Cedar  Monthly 
Meeting  going  into  the  snare  thus  laid  for  them,  left  the 
others  very  few  and  weak.  That  Monthly  Meeting  was 
therefore  laid  down  by  Salem  Quarter  in  18G0,  and  the 
remaining  members  were  attached  to  Linn  Monthly 
Meeting;  and  the  meeting  at  Prairie  Ridge  was  like- 
wise laid  down,  all  its  members,  except  one  family, 
having  joined  the  new  meetings  set  up  by  Ohio.  Thus, 
the  Quarterly  Meeting  was  now  sustained  by  only  the 


238  THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN     [CHAP.  XIII. 


two  small  Monthly  Meetings  of  Linn  (without  Prairie 
Ridge)  and  Hesper. 

If,  however,  the  few  that  remained  had  continued 
single-eyed  and  watchful  to  the  Lord  their  helper,  they 
would  doubtless  have  been  strengthened  to  stand  through 
all.  But  there  were  still  some  active  members  amono- 
them,  not  deeply  grounded  in  the  Truth,  who  let  in  a 
spirit  of  jealousy  and  bitterness  against  the  rightly  ex- 
ercised and  honestly  concerned  ones ;  thus  causing  dis- 
unity and  weakness  in  the  meetings;  and  not  being 
founded  on  the  Rock,  and  some  others  also  depending 
too  much  on  man,  instead  of  looking  with  a  single  eye 
to  their  holy  head,  Christ  Jesus,  their  vision  was  clouded, 
and  they  were  not  able  to  discern  between  the  true  and 
the  false,  the  living  and  the  dead  child.  So  that  when 
the  additional  difficulty,  caused  by  the  separation  of  the 
King  party  at  Poplar  Ridge,  in  1859,*  came  upon  them, 
the  storm  was  too  strong  for  them,  as  a  body,  to  stand 
against,  and  in  18(31  they  eventually  gave  in  to  a  recog- 
nition of  the  plausible  pretensions  of  the  Xew  York 
separatists  under  John  King.  This  was  in  fact  but 
another  insidious  form  of  the  middle  system,  and  they 
were  thus  swallowed  up  almost  bodily  by  that  vortex. 

One  of  these  Friends  has,  in  a  letter  to  the  writer  of 
this  work,  acknowledged  that  after  this  they  seemed  to 
have  no  life  left  to  enable  them  to  conduct  the  affairs  of 
the  church,  or  even  to  worship  aright,  and  that  they 
groped  their  way  along  without  comfort  or  unity  among 
themselves.  In  the  fifth  month,  1862,  a  few  of  them, 
being  convinced  that  they  had  done  wrong  in  acknowl- 


*  To  be  narrated  in  the  next  chapter. 


1862.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


289 


edging  the  King  party,  could  not  feel  at  liberty  any 
longer  to  meet  with  thern. 

After  many  trials  and  difficulties,  arising  from  their 
scattered  condition,  a  few,  residing  near  Viola,  in  Linn 
County,  began  to  meet  together  for  divine  worship  in 
one  of  their  houses;  and  continuing  to  look  to  the  Shep- 
herd of  Israel,  who  folio  wet  h  his  lost  sheep  even  into 
the  wilderness,  they  were  mercifully  sustained,  and 
gradually  strengthened  to  look  toward  reunion  with 
their  Friends  of  the  "smaller  bodies"  elsewhere,  who 
had  remained  faithful  to  the  testimonies  of  Truth.  That 
worthy  man,  Ebenezer  Austin,  who  had  maintained  his 
integrity,  was  taken  away  by  death,  and  his  family  be- 
came scattered ;  but  the  rest  of  those  residing  near  Viola 
made  application,  in  1873,  to  the  General  Meeting  for 
Pennsylvania,  etc.,  for  the  extension  of  care  over  them, 
and  they  were  accordingly  received  (though  far  distant 
and  much  isolated)  as  members  of  Salem  Monthly 
Meeting,  Ohio,  one  of  the  branches  of  that  General 
Meeting. 


240 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN     [oHAP.  XIV. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

PROGRESS  OF  THE  MIDDLE  SYSTEM  —  ONE  OF  ITS 
FRUITS,  THE  "  KING "  SEPARATION  IN  NEW  YORK 
 ANOTHER,  THE  LOSS  OF  THE   LAWSUIT  IN  OHIO. 

For  several  years,  especially  since  the  decease  of  the 
first  editor  in  1851,  the  weekly  paper  called  "The 
Friend,"  published  in  Philadelphia,  had  been  gradually 
but  obviously  sliding  more  and  more  into  a  support  of 
the  views  and  ways  of  the  party  of  compromise,  called 
for  distinction  the  "  middle  party."  That  periodical  had 
now  several  of  the  most  active  and  influential  leaders  of 
that  party  very  much  controlling  its  course  and  the 
tenor  of  its  columns.  While  the  first  editor  was  living, 
favorable  allusions  to  the  "  Smaller  Body"  of  New  Eng- 
land, and  statements  of  the  occurrence  of  its  Yearly 
Meetings,  were  at  times  inserted,  for  the  satisfaction  of 
those  interested,  or  for  information  to  other  Friends  that 
those  meetings  were  still  continued  to  be  held.  But 
soon  after  his  decease  came  a  gradual  hushing  up  of 
the  main  subject  of  the  controversy;  comparative  silence 
as  to  its  essential  features,  as  affecting  the  unity  of  the 
Society  ;  and  at  length  a  systematic  rejection  of  all  papers 
tending  to  advocate  the  position  taken  by  the  "smaller 
bodies"  of  New  England,  New  York,  or  Maryland,  or 
even  mentioning  their  existence  as  meetings;  while  pieces 
were  frequently  published,  reflecting  on  those  who  with- 


1857.]  THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


241 


stood  the  temporizing  system  now  prevalent  in  Phila- 
delphia and  Ohio  Yearly  Meetings ;  and  any  distinct 
allusion  to  the  fundamental  unsoundness  of  principle 
promoted  by  J.  J.  Gurney,  and  sanctioned  by  London 
Yearly  Meeting,  and  by  several  Yearly  Meetings  on  this 
continent,  appeared  to  be  cautiously  avoided,  or  soft- 
ened down  into  occasional  vague  lamentations  over  the 
worldly-minded ness  and  inconsistency  which  had  over- 
taken the  Society.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  a  carefulness 
appeared  still  to  recognize  these  lapsed  bodies  as  meetings 
'of  Friends;  their  members  being  frequently  spoken  of  as 
such,  while  those  small  remnants  that  were  endeavoring 
(through  much  obloquy  and  false  accusation)  to  stand 
for  the  ancient  cause,  were  ignored,  as  if  their  existence 
were  no  longer  worth  mentioning. 

Many  Friends  had  seen  and  sorrowfully  felt  this  tend- 
ency in  the  paper ;  and  various  endeavors  had  been  made 
by  some  among  the  managers  or  "  contributors,"  and  by 
others  from  without,  to  arouse  those  concerned  to  a  due 
appreciation  of  the  need  of  taking  a  more  distinct  and 
firm  stand  against  the  fearful  innovations,  and  in  sup- 
port of  those  Friends  who  were  engaged  in  a  conscien- 
tious concern  and  endeavor  to  maintain  the  ancient  faith. 
But  this  was  without  avail. 

In  the  summer  of  1857,  the  feeling  that  some  change 
ought  to  take  place,  for  the  security  and  welfare  of  the 
Society,  became  so  prevalent  with  many  Friends,  chiefly 
in  Pennsylvania,  New  Jersey,  Ohio,  and  New  York, 
that  it  resulted  in  the  sending  of  a  Remonstrance  to  the 
"Contributors"  against  the  lapsed  course  of  the  paper. 
The  substance  of  this  Remonstrance  was  as  follows: 

VOL.  II. — 21 


242 


THE  SOCIETY  OP  FRIENDS  IN     [CHAP.  XIV. 


"  Esteemed  Friends  :  We  respectfully  request  your  serious 
attention  to  the  following  brief  statement  of  our  sentiments 
in  regard  to  the  position  occupied  of  late  years  by  the  paper 
under  your  control,  called  'The  Friend,'  in  respect  to  the 
sorrowful  state  of  things  now  existing  in  our  Religious  So- 
ciety ;  and  we  earnestly  desire  your  prompt  and  effective 
action  in  accordance  with  the  views  herewith  presented. 
"The  original  intention  of  Friends  in  promoting  the  estab- 
lishment of  the  paper,  was  to  furnish  a  vehicle  for  the  de- 
fence of  the  Truth  against  the  assaults  and  misrepresenta- 
tions of  gainsayers,  whether  backsliders  professing  to  be 
Friends,  or  others  who  never  were  of  us  ;  and  likewise  for 
the  conveyance  of  correct  information  of  facts  calculated  to' 
affect  the  interests  and  welfare  of  the  Society.  In  the  Pros- 
pectus (Vol.  I,  page  1),  is  the  following  language:  ' Nor 
'  shall  we  shrink,  when  we  think  the  cause  of  justice  requires 
'  it,  from  the  free  examination  of  the  public  conduct  of  individ- 
'  lads,  and  a  defence  of  the  course  pursued  by  Friends,  where 
lwe  believe  it  to  be  misrepresented,  and  calumniated,''  etc.  A 
similar  intention  and  aim,  we  think,  prevailed  among  those 
who  conducted  the  paper,  in  the  early  stages  of  our  present 
troubles  

"With  such  views,  Friends  throughout  the  Society  were  con- 
stantly encouraged  to  stand  their  ground  against  the  en- 
croachments of  the  innovating  spirit  which  has  made  such 
devastation  within  the  camp.  But  for  a  considerable  time 
past  we  have  been  greatly  disappointed  in  finding  a  course 
taken  by  the  paper,  which  seems  like  abandoning  the  origi- 
nal intent  and  ground,  leaving  the  defence  of  the  truth  in 
great  measure  unattempted,  numerous  attacks  of  its  oppo- 
nents not  exposed  or  repelled,  or  even  noticed,  and  correct 
information  of  important  and  deeply  interesting  circum- 
stances, entirely  withheld.  It  is  notorious  that  frequent 
publications  have  been  issued  and  widely  spread  within  the 
last  two  or  three  years,  which  are  calculated  to  give  to  the 
inexperienced  and  to  the  youth,  very  erroneous  views  in  re- 
gard to  the  cause  and  nature  of  the  difficulties  now  distract- 
ing the  Society,  and  have  proved  a  great  stumbling-block 


1857.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


243 


"in  their  way  ;  and  yet  but  little  attempt  has  appeared  in 
"  '  The  Friend^  to  counteract  their  delusive  teudency  and 
"effects,  or  even  to  warn  Friends  against  them.  It  is  also 
"  known  that  accounts  of  the  proceedings  of  sound  Friends 
"  in  the  remnants  of  Yearly  Meetings  preserved  from  the 
"general  defection,  have  been  entirely  refused  admission  into 
"the  paper.  To  such  a  degree  has  information  of  this  kind 
"been  withheld,  that  Friends  ignorant  of  the  circumstances 
'•  would  uot  be  able  to  gather  from  the  columns  of 1  TheFru  in',' 
"any  knowledge  of  the  existence,  at  this  day,  of  yearly  or 
"other  meetings  of  Friends  in  various  parts,  endeavoring  to 
"  stand  firm  in  their  testimony  for  the  Truth  and  against  error, 
"and  clear  of  the  desolating  spirit  which  has  carried  such 
"multitudes  into  disunity  with  the  true  Society  of  Friends. 
"  Besides  this,  there  have  been  from  time  to  time  published 
"in  the  paper,  essays  reflecting  darkly,  by  implication,  on 
"sound  Friends,  as  if  they  were  transgressors  of  the  Disci- 
"  pline,  and  out  of  true  order  in  their  movements,  insinuating 
"if  not  actually  charging  them  with  '  unsanctitied  zeal,' etc. ; 
"yet  in  so  vague  and  geueral  a  manner — without  proof  or 
"  specification — as  to  evade  being  called  to  account,  or  having 
"  such  insinuations  disproved.  These  invectives  still  continue 
"to  be  at  times  published,  sometimes  with  open  charges  of  a 
"wrong  spirit  against  a  certain  class,  not  named,  but  aimed 
"at  in  such  a  manner  as  to  make  it  obvious  what  class  was 
"intended  ;  and  sometimes  by  extracts  from  ancient  Friends' 
"writings  with  certain  passages  italicized,  in  order  to  convey 

"  the  same  charge  in  a  covert  way  

"Yet  it  has  been  well  understood,  that  no  replies  to  such 
"invectives  woidd  obtain  the  editorial  sanction,  or  be  per- 
"  miffed  to  appear.  Such  articles,  and  such  a  course  of  the 
"  paper,  are  well  calculated  to  bewilder  the  minds  of  our 
"  youth,  and  lead  them  to  fear  that  genuine  Quakerism  has 
"  become  extinct — that  there  is  in  reality  no  Society  of  Friends 
"  now  to  be  found  in  a  consistent  maintenance  of  our  original 
"  principles  and  practices  ;  whereas  they  might  have  been  in- 
structed that,  although  greatly  scattered  and  peeled,  yet  a 
"  large  number  of  Friends  (in  the  aggregate)  is  still  preserved, 


244 


THE  SOCIETY  QF  FRIENDS  IN     [CHAP.  XIV. 


"  whose  concern  is  to  maintain  the  ancient  standard  of  faith 
"and  practice  unchanged,  and  who  will  doubtless  be  sus- 
' '  tained  by  the  great  Head  of  the  church,  in  their  earnest  en- 
"  deavors  to  serve  Him.  At  the  same  time,  these  honest  and 
"faithful,  but  down-trodden  and  defamed  ones  might  have 
"been  encouraged  and  strengthened  to  stand  steadfastly 
"  through  all,  on  the  alone  sure  foundation.  It  is  also  under- 
stood, that  the  dissatisfaction  of  Friends  with  the  above- 
' '  described  course  of  the  paper  is  not  unknown  to  the  '  Con- 
"  tributors,'  but  that  it  has  hitherto  failed  to  elicit  from  them 
"any  efficient  action  to  remedy  the  evil. 

"Under  these  circumstances,  it  is  the  painful  conviction  of 
"many  Friends,  that  '  The  Friend,'  as  at  present  conducted, 
"has  failed  to  answer  the  design  of  its  publication,  or  to  fulfil 
"  the  wants  and  needs  of  the  Society  and  the  just  expectations 
"of  Friends;  and  that  unless  a  very  decided  and  speedy 
"change  takes  place,  a  large  number  of  its  subscribers  will 
"  withdraw  their  support  from  the  paper.  Still,  as  many 
"Friends  feel  the  need  at  present  existing,  of  having  some 
"  channel  through  which  the  cause  of  Truth  may  be  defended, 
"  and  for  the  spread  of  correct  information  of  facts,  we  may 
"acknowledge  a  preference  that  this  vehicle  may  again  be 
"  '  The  Friend,' 

"We  therefore  respectfully  and  earnestly  request  that 
"prompt  measures  may  be  taken  to  carry  out  the  necessary 
"change  in  the  course  of  the  paper,  and  that  such  evidence 
"  may  be  given  of  your  intention  to  make  '  The  Friend"1  con- 
formable to  the  needs  of  the  present  crisis,  that  it  may  be 
"  unnecessary  for  Friends  to  resort  to  other  means  for  their 
"relief. 

"  We  are  respectfully  your  friends." 

The  above  document  was  signed  by  nearly  two  hun- 
dred of  the  subscribers  and  readers  of  The  Friend; 
many  of  them  ministers,  elders,  overseers,  or  other  deeply 
concerned  and  consistent  members.  But  when  presented 
for  the  consideration  of  those  to  whom  it  was  addressed, 


1858.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


245 


it  was  treated  in  a  slighting  manner,  as  if  it  were  the 
production  of  disaffected  persons ;  and  no  satisfaction  was 
given,  nor  any  perceptible  change  made  in  the  course  of 
the  paper.  Some  allusion  to  this  transaction  has  appeared 
to  be  necessary  here,  inasmuch  as  that  periodical  became 
a  very  effective  instrument  in  fastening  the  mischievous 
system  of  the  "middle  party"  on  the  Society,  especially 
within  the  Yearly  Meetings  of  Pennsylvania  and  Ohio. 

In  the  year  1858,  Morris  Cope,  a  minister  residing  in 
Chester  County,  Pennsylvania,  published  a  pamphlet 
entitled  "  Av&hentic  Extracts"  etc.,  designed  to  show  the 
utter  incongruity  of  the  new  system,  in  doctrine,  prac- 
tice, and  discipline,  with  what  Friends  had  ever  before 
been  accustomed  to  recognize  as  compatible  with  their 
profession,  and  the  great  necessity  of  firmly  withstand- 
ing its  inroads.  This  pamphlet  was  published  with  the 
printed  sanction  of  thirteen  Friends  residing  in  or  about 
the  same  vicinity,  viz.:  David  Cope,  Samuel  Cope, 
Moses  Bailey,  William  N.  Scarlet,  Solomon  Lukens, 
Joseph  Chambers,  William  Walter,  Joshua  Sharplcss, 
Levi  Wickersham,  Daniel  Thompson,  Abiah  Cope,  Ben- 
jamin Maule,  and  Joshua  B.  Pusey  ;  whose  sentiments, 
at  that  time,  it  may  fairly  be  supposed,  were  represented 
in  the  work. 

Its  strictures  were  very  sharp  against  the  Gurney  sys- 
tem, taking  the  ground  that  it  was  fully  as  "  derogatory  " 
from  the  true  principles  of  Quakerism,  as  the  system  of 
Elias  Hicks.  Respecting  the  New  England  question,  it 
took  a  clear  and  decided  position  in  favor  of  the  "  Smaller 
Body/'  saying  (p.  25): 

"  If  those  Friends  who  compose  the  '  Smaller  Body '  continue 
"  to  be  'entitled  to  the  rights  of  membership,  and  to  such  ac- 


246 


THE  SOCIETV  OF  FRIENDS  IN     [CHAP.  XIV. 


"  '  knowledgment  by  their  brethren  as  may  be  necessary  for 
"  '  securing  the  enjoyment  of  those  rights,'  certainly  they  have 
"not  seceded  from  the  Society;  and  if  so,  do  they  not  still 
"  continue  to  hold  New  England  Yearly  Meeting  as  a  superior, 
"in  unity  with,  and  to  which  the  true  Quarterly  Meeting  of 
"Rhode  Island,  and  Monthly  Meeting  of  Swanzey,  are  sub- 
"  ordinate  and  constituent  branches?  That  the  precedent 
"would  not  be  safe  to  be  followed  in  the  organization  of  a 
"  (new)  Yearly  Meeting,  does  not  appear  to  apply  to  the  sus- 
"  taining  of  a  Yearly  Meeting  on  its  original  organization  or 
"ground  ;  and  particularly  so,  when  the  maintenance  of  the 
"doctrines  and  discipline  of  the  Society  are  acknowledged  to 
"have  been  the  alone  ground  of  action.  Does  it  not  follow, 
"  that  if  there  is  but  one  true  Monthly  Meeting  of  Swanzey, 
"and  that,  of  the  'Smaller  Body,'  that  as  certainly,  there  can 
"be  but  one  true  Yearly  Meeting  of  New  England  ;  and  can 
"that  be  in  unity  with  the  separate  Monthly  Meeting  ot 
"  Swanzey  ?" 

Equally  decided  was  its  language  in  relation  to  the 
position  of  the  "Smaller  Body"  of  Baltimore  Yearly 
Meeting  in  the  separation  of  1854;  showing  that  the 
same  principles  of  decision  ought  to  be  the  criterion  in 
this  case,  that  were  the  ground  of  judgment  respecting 
the  separation  of  the  Hicksites  in  Baltimore  Yearly 
Meeting  in  1828  ;  the  ground  of  decision  then  being  not 
one  founded  on  the  relative  numbers,  or  the  identity  of 
clerks,  but  on  adherence  to  the  original  sound  doctrines 
of  the  Society. 

In  reference  to  the  increasing  tendency  of  many  in 
Philadelphia  Yearly  Meeting  to  give  way  to  weakness 
and  indecision,  this  pamphlet  says  (p.  27): 

"Then  upon  what  ground  (with  any  degree  of  consistency) 
"can  Philadelphia  Yearly  Meeting  relax,  in  carrying  out  its 
"  testimony  against  the  fruits  resulting  from  either  the  adop- 
"  tion  or  encouragement  of  J.  J.  Gurney's  sentiments  ?" 


1858.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


247 


And  in  conclusion  (p.  31)  : 

"  If  in  those  [primitive]  days  there  was  '  no  concord  between 
"light  and  darkness,'  between  truth  and  error,  why  should 
"there  now  be?  Has  the  foundation  been  changed?  Or 
"does  there  still  remain  but  the  Rock  and  the  sand,  to  build 
"upon?  Should  any  assume  a  medium  ground,  whereon  to 
"erect  a  structure  ?  Was  it  not  so  with  the  church  of  the 
"  Laodiceans  ?  To  whom  this  language  was  addressed  :  '  I 
"  '  know  thy  works,  that  thou  art  neither  cold  nor  hot.  I 
"  'would  thou  wert  cold  or  hot.  So  then,  because  thou  art 
"  '  lukewarm,  and  neither  cold  nor  hot,  I  will  spue  thee  out  of 
"  'my  mouth  !'  " 

But  this  pamphlet,  and  others  issued  before  and  after 
it,  had  no  more  effect  in  changing  the  course  of  those 
who  controlled  the  Yearly  Meeting,  than  the  Remon- 
strance  of  1857  to  the  "Contributors"  of  The  Friend 
had  towards  inducing  a  change  in  the  course  of  that 
periodical. 

It  might  have  been  less  needful  to  make  so  frequent 
and  prominent  allusion  here  to  the  compromising  or 
middle  party  of  Philadelphia  and  Ohio  Yearly  Meet- 
ings, were  it  not  for  the  fixed  persuasion,  that  on  the 
heads  of  that  party  rested  an  awful  responsibility,  for  the 
weakness  that  so  rapidly  increased  in  the  hitherto  sound 
portion  of  the  members  there,  since  the  year  1846,  and 
which  soon  spread  its  paralyzing  influence  elsewhere. 
Would  that  the  truthfulness  of  history  had  not  required 
it.  But  its  development  was  and  is  an  essential  requi- 
site, both  as  to  the  past  and  what  we  have  yet  to  con- 
template. We  have  seen  some  of  the  internal  results  of 
this  spirit — truly  a  Laodicean  spirit — tending  to  a  prac- 
tical nullification  of  the  standard  which  had  begun  to  be 


2 18  THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN     [CHAP.  XIV. 


raised  by  Philadelphia  Yearly  Meeting  against  the  inno- 
vations of  the  Gurney  system.  We  shall  now  have  to 
consider  the  mischievous  effects  which  ensued  elsewhere, 
from  its  course  of  discouraging  and  discountenancing, 
year  after  year,  even  those  "Smaller  Bodies"  which  had 
been  fostered  and  encouraged  in  the  stand  they  had 
taken  for  the  Truth,  by  the  open  and  clear  testimonies 
against  the  innovations  in  doctrine,  at  first  borne  by 
Philadelphia  and  Ohio  Yearly  Meetings  ;  but  whose 
isolated  position  may  be  truly  traced  to  their  faithfulness 
to  the  testimonies  then  so  ably  advocated  by  those  Yearly 
Meetings.  It  might  indeed  be  said  of  those  two  bodies: 
I  have  nourished  and  brought  up  children,  and  then 
cast  them  adrift  before  the  enemy  !  And  the  assertion 
is  a  very  safe  one,  that  but  for  the  betrayal  of  the  cause 
on  the  part  of  the  leaders  of  the  middle  system  in  Phila- 
delphia and  Ohio  Yearly  Meetings,  the  "divisions  and 
subdivisions"  which  were  made  so  much  of  by  them  as 
a  reproach  against  the  Smaller  Bodies,  would  in  all 
probability  never  have  occurred;  but  a  large  body  of 
Friends  might  have  been  preserved,  to  bear  a  clear  and 
clean  and  efficacious  testimony  against  the  modern  sys- 
tem of  doctrine  and  practice. 

Under  the  plausible  representations  of  that  compro- 
mising system,  it  is  a  sorrowful  fact,  and  one  of  the  sad- 
dest pages  in  the  history  of  our  Society,  that  many  within 
those  Yearly  Meetings,  who  had  appeared  indeed  valiant 
for  the  Truth  for  some  years,  eventually  gave  way,  and 
thought  that  nothing  more  could  be  done  than  to  submit 
to  the  half-way  temporizing  measures  presented,  in  the 
vain  hope  of  a  conciliation  of  elements  essentially  an- 
tagonistic.   And  when  once  they  thus  submitted,  their 


1858.]  THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY.  249 


strength  was  gone.  Thus  the  course  of  Philadelphia 
Yearly  Meeting  was  for  the  future  neutralized,  and  its 
former  noble  testimonies  rendered  of  no  practical  efficacy 
(except  as  monuments  of  what  it  once  was),  by  the  deter- 
mination adopted,  to  keep  all  together,  and  at  all  hazards 
to  prevent  a  separation  of  the  Gurney  or  popular  party. 
Can  we  then  wonder,  that  such  a  change  in  its  course, 
so  unexpected,  and  so  unwarranted  by  its  former  faith- 
fulness in  the  advocacy  of  the  Truth,  should  have  had  a 
powerfully  discouraging  influence  upon  the  small  rem- 
nants of  Yearly  Meetings,  which  had  hopefully  looked, 
in  their  weak  condition,  for  support  and  fellowship  from 
Ohio  and  Pennsylvania?  Those  small  companies  could 
not  reasonably  be  supposed  to  be  exclusively  composed 
of  such  as  were  truly  baptized  for  the  work  of  suffering 
all  things  for  the  Truth  and  its  testimonies,  and  "  en- 
during hardness  as  good  soldiers  of  Jesus  Christ."  They 
had  of  course  among  them  members  of  a  considerable 
variety  of  degrees  of  experience  and  strength ;  and  the 
sense  that  after  awhile  came  over  them,  that  they  were 
likely  to  be  left  to  themselves,  and  not  owned  by  those 
to  whom  they  had  almost  looked  up  as  fathers,  fell 
like  a  storm  upon  many,  against  which  they  were  not 
rooted  deep  enough  to  stand  steadily ;  and  some  of  these 
gave  way  to  an  idea  that  the  views  of  those  controlling 
Philadelphia  and  Ohio  Yearly  Meetings  must  be  met, 
as  far  as  practicable;  for  that  it  would  not  do  to  be  too 
stiff  in  a  course  which  would  certainly  alienate  those 
important  bodies  of  Friends  entirely  from  them. 

Then  came  weakness.    Human  reasoning  usurped, 
with  some,  the  place  of  a  patient  waiting  on  Divine  Wis- 
dom ;  and  the  proceedings  of  their  small  gatherings  for 
vol.  ii. — 22 


250  THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN     [CHAP.  XIV. 


the  affairs  of  the  church,  which  before  had  been  charac- 
terized by  great  sweetness  and  harmony,  began  to  be 
interfered  with  by  unsettled  and  contentious  spirits — the 
very  tools  for  forcibly  verifying  the  predictions  of  the 
"middle  party,"  that  the  "smaller  bodies"  would  fall 
to  pieces.  It  is  on  this  account,  and  because  the  result- 
ing "  divisions  and  subdivisions"  have  been  greatly  mis- 
understood and  grossly  misrepresented,  that  it  seems 
important  to  spend  some  time  in  endeavoring  to  develop 
their  real  nature,  and  to  trace  the  responsibility  to  its  true 
source  in  the  spirit  of  temporizing  which  had  taken  pos- 
session of  Philadelphia  and  Ohio  Yearly  Meetings. 

The  disastrous  effects  produced  by  this  spirit,  outside 
of  the  limits  of  those  two  Yearly  Meetings,  first  became 
apparent  in  the  company  of  Friends  holding  New  York 
Yearly  Meeting  (Smaller  Body)  at  Poplar  Ridge,  in 
Cayuga  County.  This  Yearly  Meeting  was  then  com- 
posed of  remnants  of  the  Quarterly  Meetings  of  Scipio, 
Farmington,  and  Ferrisburgh,  with  a  very  few  members 
in  Canada,  who  were  attached  to  Farmington  Quarter. 
One  of  their  valuable  members  was  Job  Otis,  formerly 
of  New  Bedford,  who  had  removed  with  his  family  to 
the  neighborhood  of  Scipio,  in  1833.  His  account  of 
incipient  Hicksism  in  New  England  about  1822,  we 
have  already  alluded  to  in  the  first  volume.  True  to 
the  ancient  faith,  he  and  his  wife,  while  residing  at  New 
Bedford,  had  taken  very  decided  ground  against  the 
attempts  of  William  Almy  and  other  influential  mem- 
bers, about  the  year  1830,  to  introduce  some  of  the  mod- 
ern views  and  ways  promoted  in  the  writings  of  J.  J. 
Gurncy,  but  little  known  at  that  time  on  this  side  of  the 
Atlantic.    By  their  firm  testimony  against  the  spirit 


1858.]  THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


251 


then  threatening  the  welfare  of  the  Society  in  New  Eng- 
land, some  check  was  perhaps  put  to  its  inroads  for  the 
time;  but  they  brought  upon  themselves  much  obloquy 
and  enmity,  and  the  standing  of  some  of  their  opponents 
was  such  as  enabled  them  to  circulate  widely  abroad 
prejudices  against  Job  Otis,  and  charges  of  inordinate 
zeal,  which  continued  to  assail  him  as  long  as  he  lived, 
fanned  of  late  years  by  the  known  antipathy  to  him  of 
certain  leading  men  in  Philadelphia,  who  were  sensible 
that  they  could  derive  no  help  from  him  to  their  tem- 
porizing policy  and  schemes.  lie  was  ardent  in  his 
feelings,  and  bold  in  the  expression  of  them,  and  the 
prejudice  against  him  had  spread  to  his  new  place  of 
abode,  and  worked  among  some  who  were  already  lean- 
ing toward  the  middle  system,  and  looking  to  Phila- 
delphia for  help.  This  feeling  may  perhaps  also  have 
been  more  or  less  partaken  of  by  some  others,  both  there 
and  previously  in  New  England,  of  honest  intentions, 
but  who  saw  not  as  yet,  so  clearly  and  promptly  as  he 
did,  "the  depths  of  Satan"  in  the  incipient  departures 
and  practical  unsoundness,  and  therefore  were  not  pre- 
pared entirely  to  approve  of  his  zeal  and  uncompro- 
mising earnestness.  Some  of  these,  however,  are  well 
understood  to  have  had  good  unity  with  him  at  a  sub- 
sequent period,  when  the  innovations  had  become  more 
openly  developed. 

The  result  of  this  opposition  to  him  was,  that  although 
he  was  better  qualified  for  usefulness  than  many  others 
among  them  at  that  crisis,  yet  care  was  taken  to  prevent 
him,  and  some  united  in  sentiment  with  him,  from  be- 
ing appointed  to  important  services  or  stations  in  that 
Yearly  Meeting.    Thus,  that  small  body  of  Friends 


252 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN     [CHAP.  XIV. 


suffered  the  loss  of  some  instrumental  help  in  these 
respects,  and  there  seemed  to  be  an  increasing  danger  of 
drifting  into  the  course  of  the  middle  system. 

After  the  decease  of  Job  Otis,  which  occurred  in  1856, 
the  antipathy  of  the  disaffected  ones  against  him  settled 
upon  those  who  were  concerned,  as  ability  was  afforded, 
to  follow  his  example  and  walk  in  his  footsteps.  Jeal- 
ousies arose  against  certain  Friends,  with  a  determina- 
tion not  to  be  ruled  by  them ;  and  party  spirit  soon  eat- 
ing out  the  good  and  tender  plant  which  some  of  them 
had  once  known  springing  up  in  their  hearts,  they  ap- 
peared regardless  both  of  the  injury  to  their  own  souls 
and  the  reproach  that  would  be  brought  upon  the  cause 
they  were  engaged  in,  by  their  contentions.  They  made 
high  professions  of  being  subject  to  the  Holy  Spirit;  yet 
it  was  evident  that  many  of  them  were  very  unwatchful 
against  the  enemy's  insidious  presentations ;  and  the 
prominent  ones  too  much  actuated  by  exalted  notions  of 
their  own  righteousness,  and  a  corresponding  desire  to 
have  and  keep  the  control  of  affairs.  The  sequel  showed 
that  they  (like  the  middle  party  elsewhere)  were  dis- 
posed to  disregard  or  pervert  the  plain  requisitions  of 
the  Discipline,  in  order  to  carry  their  own  measures. 

The  manuscript  Journal  of  that  faithful  servant  of 
Christ,  Joseph  Hoag,  having  been  carefully  left  by  him 
to  the  care  of  Friends  sound  in  the  faith,  and  being  pro- 
posed for  publication,  furnished  a  handle  for  this  con- 
tentious spirit  to  take  hold  of.  The  papers,  after  being 
for  some  time  in  the  hands  of  a  committee  of  their 
Meeting  for  Sufferings,  were  sent  by  them  to  a  friend 
in  Philadelphia,  for  his  care  in  revising  them,  and  pre- 
paring them  for  being  put  to  the  press.    He  had  full 


1857.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


253 


liberty  to  exercise  his  judgment  in  regard  to  what  should 
be  proposed  to  be  curtailed,  and  what  retained,  as  the 
manuscript  was  seen  to  be  somewhat  unnecessarily  volu- 
minous for  publication.  In  the  course  of  the  revision, 
he  found  a  passage  relative  to  the  troubles  about  New 
Bedford  of  1831,*  which  appeared  to  him  not  to  have 
been  written  with  Joseph  Hoag's  wonted  clearness  from 
external  bias,  but  seemed  to  indicate  that  his  mind 
might  just  then  have  been  influenced  by  one-sided  in- 
formation, received  from  some  with  whom  he  was  then 
mingling  socially,  to  take  an  erroneous  view  of  the 
state  of  the  case,  and,  under  this  view,  to  write  in  a 
manner  calculated  to  lead  his  readers  to  suppose  that 
certain  members,  not  named  (but  evidently  including 
such  as  Job  Otis  and  his  wife),  had  been  disposed  to 
"drive  furiously  "  with  a  "false  zeal."  It  appeared  to 
the  friend  having  the  revision  in  charge,  that  this 
worthy  man  had  not  understood,  at  the  time,  the  efforts 
then  making  to  introduce  some  of  the  very  same  views 
and  ways  that  have  since  characterized  the  Gurney  sys- 
tem, views  which  he  faithfully  withstood  when  fully 
developed  at  a  subsequent  period.  It  did  not  seem 
desirable  therefore,  in  justice  to  Joseph  Hoag's  memory, 
or  with  a  due  regard  to  the  position  conscientiously 
taken  by  Job  Otis  and  others  at  that  juncture,  to  per- 
petuate the  passage,  and  it  was  accordingly  proposed  to 
be  omitted. 

But,  when  the  papers  were  returned  to  Seipio,  the 
erasure  of  this  passage  was  soon  noticed,  and  gave  great 
umbrage  to  the  disaffected  party,  who  were  much  dis- 


*  For  some  allusion  to  which,  see  page  250. 


254 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN     [CHAP.  XIV. 


appointed  at  not  being  sustained  in  their  hope  of  retain- 
ing -what  they  looked  upon  as  a  confirmation  of  their 
sentiments  in  regard  to  Job  Otis.  They  were  by  no 
means  satisfied  that  it  should  be  omitted.  Angry  letters 
were  sent  to  the  friend  in  Philadelphia,  and  much  stir 
was  made  about  it.  Job  Otis  had  meantime  been  taken 
away  by  death,  but  this  made  no  difference  with  them 
in  regard  to  the  passage  in  question.  So  determined 
were  they  to  have  it  restored,  that  it  was  found  best  to 
suspend  the  whole  matter,  and  the  work  was  not  pub- 
lished till  after  the  separation  of  the  malcontents  from 
Friends  in  the  year  1859. 

The  disaffection  began  to  manifest  itself  openly  in 
1857,  and  from  that  time,  till  it  culminated  in  a  separa- 
tion in  the  Yearly  Meeting  in  1859,  it  gave  sore  trouble 
and  exercise  to  the  honest-hearted,  who  were  endeavor- 
ing to  wade  through  their  difficulties  and  maintain  the 
faith  and  discipline  of  the  Society,  trusting  in  the  pro- 
tection of  the  Head  of  the  church,  and  relying  upon  the 
incomes  of  heavenly  instruction  graciously  vouchsafed 
to  them  at  times  in  their  great  need.  The  efforts  of  the 
disaffected  party  soon  took  the  form  of  opposition  to  the 
right  administration  of  the  discipline  in  treating  with 
offenders,  and  many  unfounded  and  frivolous  allegations 
were  made  against  those  concerned  to  sustain  it.  A 
female  minister  had,  on  one  or  two  occasions,  made  use 
of  a  somewhat  ambiguous  mode  of  expression.  This 
they  took  hold  of  to  her  disadvantage,  and  attempted  to 
make  her  "an  offender  for  a  word;"  and  although  she 
manifested  her  innocence  of  any  unsound  or  even  de- 
fective view  of  doctrine  in  what  she  had  said,  yet  they 
succeeded  in  preventing  her  from  being  liberated  by  the 


1858.]  THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


255 


Monthly  Meeting  soon  afterwards,  for  the  accomplish- 
ment of  a  concern  which  she  opened  to  it,  under  a  feel- 
ing of  religious  duty,  to  attend  Baltimore  Yearly  Meet- 
ing to  be  held  at  Nottingham.  They  also  took  occasion 
to  make  her  case  an  exception  in  answering  the  Queries 
in  the  Select  Preparative  Meeting. 

Two  cases  occurred  in  1858,  which  still  more  strongly 
developed  the  party  spirit,  and  which  indeed  furnished, 
as  it  were,  the  pivot  on  which  the  disorderly  acts  which 
led  to  the  separation  turned.  It  would  be  very  unprofit- 
able to  follow  up  all  the  details  of  these  cases,  or  to  go 
into  all  the  frivolous  things  which  the  party  brought 
forward  to  help  them  to  frustrate  the  regular  course  of 
the  discipline.  Suffice  it  to  say  that  two  female  friends, 
caught  by  this  party  spirit,  were  successively  visited  by 
the  overseers  on  account  of  defamation  of  the  character 
of  one  of  their  fellow-members.  The  Discipline  of  that 
Yearly  Meeting  is  very  clear  in  its  injunction  that  per- 
sons guilty  of  defamation  and  detraction  must  be  faith- 
fully dealt  with  to  convince  them  of  their  error,  and  if 
the  efforts  of  Friends  are  not  successful,  they  must  be 
disowned.  In  these  cases  repeated  obstacles  were  thrown 
in  the  way,  first,  against  their  being  reclaimed,  by  en- 
couraging them  to  hold  to  their  position,  and  then  against 
every  step  taken  by  the  overseers  and  the  Preparative 
and  Monthly  Meetings  in  the  further  treatment  of  them 
respectively.  After  considerable  forbearance  and  patient 
labor  with  them,  receiving  no  satisfaction,  Scipio  Monthly 
Meeting  disowned  each  of  them.  The  individuals  de- 
clined to  recognize  the  acts  of  the  Monthly  Meeting,  but 
nevertheless  would  take  no  steps  to  have  their  regularity 
tested  by  the  authorized  method,  an  appeal  to  the  Quar- 


256 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN     [CHAP.  XIV. 


terry,  and  then,  if  needful,  to  the  Yearly  Meeting.  The 
propriety  and  necessity  of  an  appeal  in  these  cases  was 
very  different  from  what  was  apparent  in  the  case  of  the 
separation  in  Iowa  (see  page  232).  Here  there  was 
every  prospect  of  a  favorable  hearing  of  such  appeals. 
One  of  their  own  party  was  the  clerk  of  the  Yearly 
Meeting,  and  might  probably  have  continued  so,  at  least 
during  the  next  year  or  two,  had  he  not  joined  in  these 
disorderly  measures.  The  clerk  of  the  Quarterly  Meet- 
ing also  was  favorable  to  them.  But  in  Indiana  Yearly 
Meeting  the  whole  body,  as  such,  had  already  committed 
itself  by  joining  the  separatists,  and  therefore  an  appeal 
to  it,  even  if  successful,  would  have  been  an  acknowl- 
edgment of  it  in  its  schismatic  position. 

One  of  these  females  defied  the  action  of  the  Monthly 
Meeting,  and  set  at  naught  the  order  of  the  Society,  by 
persisting  in  keeping  her  seat  in  the  meeting  for  disci- 
pline while  she  was  under  dealing  ;  and  was  encouraged 
in  this  disorder  by  prominent  individuals  of  the  disaf- 
fected class.  The  overseers  consequently  felt  it  to  be 
their  duty  to  extend  labor  to  some  of  those  who  had 
thus  encouraged  her  in  conduct  so  contrary  to  the  Dis- 
cipline. 

Throughout  these  transactions  the  dissentients  com- 
plained bitterly  of  supposed  grievances,  and  afterwards 
put  some  of  their  complaints  in  print,  to  their  own  dis- 
advantage in  the  exposure  of  the  weakness  of  their  po- 
sition. Such  of  their  allegations  as  were  of  any  appar- 
ent force  were  explained  or  refuted  by  Friends ;  and 
on  examination  they  appear  indeed  exceedingly  weak. 
Most  of  what  they  considered  grievances,  such  as  the 
rejection  of  their  voices  in  meetings  for  discipline  after 


1858.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


257 


they  had  joined  in  these  disorderly  acts,  were,  in  the 
true  course  of  gospel  order  and  church  government,  the 
unavoidable  results  of  their  contumacious  course,  which 
placed  them  in  the  attitude  of  defying  the  well-known 
usages  and  regulations  of  the  Society.  And  their  desire 
and  attempts  to  embroil  the  superior  meetings,  in  an 
irregular  manner,  with  their  supposed  grievances,  with- 
out having  recourse  to  the  methods  prescribed  by  the 
Discipline,  furnished  another  instance  of  their  disposi- 
tion to  carry  things  in  a  high-handed  manner  in  their 
own  way. 

In  saying  this,  it  is  not  intended  to  assert  that  there 
were  no  mistakes  made,  in  this  time  of  uncommon  and 
constantly  pressing  trials,  by  those  who  were  endeavor- 
ing to  the  best  of  their  ability  to  sustain  the  correct  line 
of  gospel  order.  Undoubtedly  there  occurred  some 
errors  of  judgment,  which  furnished  a  handle  to  the  dis- 
advantage of  Friends.  Yet  these  were  all  minor  mis- 
takes, made  perhaps  through  inexperience,  in  a  zeal  for 
the  truth,  and  by  no  means  vitiating  the  main  issue. 
For  there  was  a  great  right  and  a  great  wrong  which 
ran  through  all  these  transactions;  and  the  candid  mind 
of  the  true  disciple,  who  should  take  the  pains  to  wade 
through  the  mass  of  details  in  the  printed  statements, 
with  his  inward  eye  directed  to  the  light  of  Truth,  would 
probably  not  find  much  difficulty  in  deciding  on  which 
side  respectively  the  right  and  the  wrong  lay.* 

*  For  detailed  information  on  the  subject,  the  reader  might  refer  to  an  Ad- 
dress from  New  York  Yearly  Meeting  of  Friends  [King  party],  18">9  ;  also, 
Some  Tilings  set  forth  for  the  Clearing  of  Truth,  by  way  of  reply  to  the  former, 
Auburn,  1K.">!) ;  An  Exposition,  etc.,  by  the  King  party  In  support  of  their  Ad- 
dress, Auburn,  18.111;  and  Some  further  Remarks  for  the  Clearing  of  Truth,  in 
reply  to  the  Exposition,  Auburn,  1860. 


258 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN     [CHAP.  XIV. 


The  leaders  of  these  disorders,  seeing  that  they  were 
now  coming  under  the  care  of  the  overseers  as  offenders 
against  the  discipline,  began  to  take  measures  for  a 
separation.  After  objecting  to  the  appointment  of  a 
fresh  overseer  of  the  men's  meeting,  and  to  the  reap- 
pointment of  overseers  in  the  women's,  both  of  which 
measures  appear  to  have  been  entirely  regular,  and  le- 
gitimately effected,  and  also  opposing  the  reappointment 
of  the  clerk  of  Scipio  Monthly  Meeting,  one  of  them,  at 
the  ensuing  Monthly  Meeting  in  the  second  month,  1859, 
renewed  the  expression  of  their  objections  to  the  clerk, 
alleging  that  he  had  declined  to  take  the  names  of  their 
friends  when  proposed  on  appointments,  on  the  ground 
of  disorder;  and  on  the  same  ground  had  refused  to 
recognize  their  sentiments  when  offered  ;  that  he  had 
ignored  their  services  in  the  Society;  and  had  refused  to 
permit  any  application  for  advice  or  assistance  to  be 
made  to  the  superior  meetings.  On  these  accounts  he 
proposed  the  appointment  of  another  clerk,  who  would 
comply  with  their  desires.  In  regard  to  this  charge  of 
the  clerk  having  rejected  certain  names  on  appoint- 
ments, it  may  be  mentioned  that  this  was  after  it  had 
been  expressed  by  other  friends  that  it  would  not  be 
consistent  with  the  Discipline  to  take  the  names  of  such 
as  had  acted  disorderly.  And  as  to  the  bringing  of  these 
matters  before  the  superior  meetings,  it  was  well  known 
that  there  was  a  plain  course  of  procedure  marked  out 
in  the  Discipline,  for  cases  of  supposed  individual  griev- 
ance, which  was  the  privilege  of  appeal ;  to  say  nothing 
of  the  defective  Answers  to  the  Queries,  which  would 
be  a  means  whereby  the  superior  meetings  could  take 
measures  for  ascertaining  the  truth,  and  eventually  for 


1859.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


259 


endeavoring  in  a  legitimate  manner  to  remedy  the  dis- 
orders that  existed.  But  the  dissentients  wanted  some- 
thing more  summary,  and  would  not  avail  themselves 
of  either  of  these  regular  modes  for  relief. 

An  individual  was  then  nominated  to  serve  them  as 
clerk  instead  of  the  one  reappointed  the  previous  month, 
and  who  was  now  acting;  and  after  waiting  until  the 
business  was  finished  and  the  meeting  concluded,  they 
continued  in  the  house,  and  went  on  with  their  separate 
Monthly  Meeting  with  their  newly  appointed  clerk. 
John  King,  the  clerk  of  the  last  Yearly  Meeting,  was 
one  of  this  disorderly  company,  and  acted  as  its  clerk. 
Thus  recklessly  was  a  separation  effected  from  the 
Monthly  Meeting  of  Scipio,  by  a  party  apparently 
utterly  regardless  of  the  reproach  thereby  brought  upon 
the  cause  of  truth.  They  certainly  had  no  just  ground 
for  such  a  course,  and  those  whom  they  opposed  were 
endeavoring  to  sustain  the  gospel  order  of  the  church  to 
the  best  of  their  ability. 

Scipio  Quarterly  Meeting  had  a  clerk  favorable  to  the 
dissentients.  He  therefore  declined  to  recognize  the 
report  and  representatives  sent  up  to  the  Quarter  from 
the  regular  Monthly  Meeting  of  Scipio ;  but  placing 
both  reports  as  doubtful,  made  a  minute  referring  the 
case  to  the  Yearly  Meeting.  Friends  urged  the  incon- 
sistency of  this  course,  giving  countenance  as  it  did  to 
proceedings  so  disorderly  as  had  characterized  the  meas- 
ures of  the  Separatists,  but  without  avail.  They,  there- 
fore, felt  themselves  under  a  necessity  to  sustain  the 
Quarterly  Meeting  in  connection  with  the  true  order  of 
the  Discipline,  by  appointing  a  new  clerk.  Thus  was  a 
separation  brought  about  also  in  Scipio  Quarterly  Meet- 


260 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIEXDS  IN     [CHAP.  XIV. 


ing,  merely  on  points  of  discipline,  but  actuated  by  a 
deep  root  of  bitterness  and  jealousy  on  one  part,  alto- 
gether unworthy  of  our  religious  profession,  notwith- 
standing the  high  and  illusory  pretensions  of  those  who 
originated  it. 

The  Yearly  Meeting  assembled  in  usual  course,  in  the 
fifth  month,  at  the  meeting-house  on  Poplar  Ridge. 
John  King,  who  had  been  clerk  the  foregoing  year,  went 
to  the  table  to  act  in  that  capacity  as  usual  for  the  first 
sitting:.  But  as  he  had  fullv  identified  himself  with  all 
those  disorderly  measures,  and  been  indeed  a  prominent 
leader  in  them,  and  teas  noic  under  dealing  on  that  ac- 
count, it  was  obviously  unfit  for  him  to  act,  and  Friends 
could  do  no  other  than  object  to  his  assuming  the  posi- 
tion, even  for  opening  the  meeting.  It  was  therefore 
mentioned  that  the  previous  clerk  had  disqualified  him- 
self for  acting  in  that  capacity,  and  James  D.  Otis  was 
named  to  open  the  Yearly  Meeting  for  business  in  his 
stead.  Several  friends  united  with  this  nomination, 
but  a  number  of  the  Separatists  and  a  few  members  of 
Farmington  Quarterly  Meeting  objected.  After  some 
time,  however,  James  D.  Otis  was  again  requested  to  go 
to  the  table  and  open  the  meeting ;  and  no  other  friend 
being  named  for  it,  he  did  so.  After  various  remarks 
had  been  made,  Mead  Attwater,  a  minister  from  Farm- 
ington Quarter,  avowed  his  willingness  "  to  acknowledge 
the  meeting  as  now  opened."  But  he  then  proceeded  to 
propose  a  very  singular  measure,  being  no  less  than  the 
suspending  of  the  Yearly  Meeting,  in  order  to  go  into  an 
investigation  of  the  situation  of  subordinate  meetings ! 
Such  a  proposal  was  somewhat  similar  to  one  made  by 


1859.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


201 


John  Comly  for  the  Hieksites,  in  the  troubles  of  1827,* 
and  was  at  best  entirely  premature  and  out  of  order,  as 
the  names  of  the  representatives  had  not  been  called 
over,  nor  the  reports  from  the  Quarterly  Meetings  read, 
and  therefore  the  Yearly  Meeting  was  not  yet  duly  consti- 
tuted for  transacting  business  or  taking  any  regular 
action.  And  if  so  suspended,  how  could  they  in  that 
condition  have  undertaken  any  regular  business? 

It  was  now  stated  that  a  person  was  present  who  had 
been  disowned,  and  two  who  were  under  dealing,  and 
they  were  requested  to  withdraw,  that  the  meeting  might 
be  select  and  able  to  proceed  with  its  business,  and  then, 
at  a  suitable  time,  Friends  might  go  into  an  investiga- 
tion. But  the  parties  so  obviously  intruding  on  the 
rights  of  the  Yearly  Meeting,  by  attending  its  sittings 
when  disqualified  by  the  plain  rules  of  Discipline, 
though  repeatedly  requested,  were  not  willing  to  with- 
draw. Mead  Attwater  continued  to  press  his  propo- 
sition to  suspend  the  Yearly  Meeting  and  go  into  an 
investigation,  and  several  others  promoted  it.  Friends 
again  requested  those  who  were  disqualified  from  at- 
tendance to  leave  the  meeting,  so  that  they  might  pro- 
ceed to  business,  and  then,  at  a  suitable  time,  the  subject 
of  difficulty  might  claim  attention.  But  these  requests 
being  all  unavailing,  it  was  at  length  proposed,  as  the 
only  way  left  for  making  the  meeting  free  from  irregular 
intrusion,  to  adjourn  until  3  o'clock  ;  which  being  ap- 
proved, the  meeting  adjourned  accordingly,  and  after- 
wards proceeded  with  its  business  in  the  regular  manner. 
As  might  have  been  expected,  the  Separatists  remained, 

•  Vol.  i,  p.  156. 


262 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN     [CHAP.  XIV. 


and  professed  to  hold  the  Yearly  Meeting,  with  John 
King  as  clerk. 

It  soon  appeared  that  their  affinities  were  with  the 
half-way  or  "middle"  party  of  Philadelphia;  but  this 
sorrowful  occurrence  was  the  occasion  of  much  reproach 
on  the  cause  of  truth.  The  middle  party  exulted  in  it, 
as  an  evidence  of  the  truth  of  their  great  dogma,  that 
"  separations  were  no  remedy,"  tending,  as  they  said  it 
was  evident  they  did,  to  reproduce  themselves — "di- 
vision and  subdivision" — and  the  contemptuous  cry  of 
the  party  thenceforth  was,  "  Look  at  Poplar  Ridge ! " 
But  if  perfect  candor  and  uprightness  had  been  their 
governing  motive,  they  might  have  seen  that  this  sep- 
aration at  Poplar  Ridge  was  a  result  for  which  they 
were  themselves  accountable  in  great  measure,  in  dis- 
couraging and  scattering  weak  brethren  by  their  half- 
way course.  It  was  but  the  completion  of  what  had 
been  somewhat  imperfectly  effected  in  the  year  1848 ; 
one  of  those  "  siftings  as  from  sieve  to  sieve,"  so  often 
foretold.  For  many  of  these  separatists  had  never  been 
truly  and  fully  prepared,  by  deep  baptism  of  spirit  and 
a  thorough  submission  to  the  cross  of  Christ,  for  the 
position  in  which  they  had,  through  more  or  less  super- 
ficial motives,  been  carried  along  with  the  others  for  a 
time.  They  were,  in  short,  of  too  shallow  root  to  en- 
dure the  storm  of  a  full  consciousness  that  they  must 
either  be  content  to  abide  with  a  despised  few,  "  every- 
where spoken  against,"  and  lose  their  hold  on  Phila- 
delphia, or  so  shape  their  measures  as  to  please  the 
middle  party  there,  from  whom  they  vainly  hoped  for 
recognition. 

Although,  since  the  time  of  their  secession,  as  above, 


1868.]  THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


263 


this  company  has  remained  entirely  isolated,  and  become 
much  reduced  in  numbers,  yet  they  still  continue,  in 
1875,  to  hold  meetings  for  worship  in  two  places,  and  a 
half-yearly  meeting  for  discipline. 

The  separation  from  Ohio  Yearly  Meeting,  narrated 
in  the  twelfth  chapter,  gave  rise  to  a  suit  at  law,  insti- 
tuted by  the  Binns  party,  which,  not  occurring  till  sev- 
eral years  after  the  division,  may  be  alluded  to  here. 
The  result  might  have  been  easily  anticipated,  from  the 
weakness  of  the  course  taken  by  the  defendants  (or  mid- 
dle party),  who  ought  (if  they  entered  such  a  contest  at 
all)  to  have  stood  openly  and  firmly  in  testimony  against 
the  introduction  of  unsound  doctrines,  which  at  least 
some  of  them  well  knew  to  have  caused  the  separation. 
But  evading  as  they  did,  by  a  cowardly  compliance  with 
the  opposite  party,  that  great  characteristic  feature  of  the 
whole  secession  (which  may  be  said  to  have  mainly 
gained  the  cause  for  Friends  in  the  famous  Hicksian 
suit  in  New  Jersey),  and  instead  of  this,  confining  them- 
selves to  matters  of  technical  order,  and  easily  made 
debatable,  they  were  quite  as  much  to  be  blamed  as 
pitied  when  they  lost  their  case,  however  erroneous  the 
judgment  of  the  Court. 

In  the  year  1868,  the  original  Gurney  party  in  Ohio, 
who  had  separated,  in  1854,  as  the  "Binns"  Yearly 
Meeting,  from  the  Yearly  Meeting  of  which  Benjamin 
Hoyle  was  clerk,  entered  suit  against  those  of  the  latter, 
to  recover,  or  rather  to  obtain,  possession  of  the  board- 
ing-school property  of  Ohio  Yearly  Meeting,  situated  at 
Mount  Pleasant.  The  case  was  commenced  in  the  Dis- 
trict Court  of  Common  Pleas  of  Jefferson  County,  at 
Stcubenville,  and  directed  by  that  Court  up  to  the 


2G4 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN     [CHAP.  XIV. 


Supreme  Court  of  the  State,  as  involving  important  and 
difficult  questions  of  law.  A  considerable  number  of 
witnesses  were  examined  on  both  sides,  and  their  evi- 
dence reduced  to  writing  and  subsequently  printed.  But 
the  subject  of  diversity  of  doctrines — the  main  life  of 
the  Avhole  matter,  and  without  which  the  controversy 
dwindles  to  the  low  position  of  a  mere  party  dispute 
about  clerks,  unworthy  of  sincere  Christians,  and  espe- 
cially reproachful  to  the  character  of  the  Society  of 
Friends — was,  by  common  consent,  as  appears  by  the 
evidence  and  by  the  pleadings  of  the  counsel,  carefully 
excluded.  If  the  defendants  (Benjamin  Hoyle  and 
others)  had  not  belonged  to  the  "  middle  party,"  which 
has  done  so  much  mischief  to  the  cause  of  Truth  by 
wrapping  up  the  very  ground  of  the  trouble,  even  at 
the  most  critical  times,  and  under  the  most  critical  cir- 
cumstances, this  exclusion  could  scarcely  have  happened. 
Benjamin  Hoyle,  of  Ohio,  and  Charles  Evans,  the  editor 
of  the  Philadelphia  "  Friend,"  were  among  the  principal 
witnesses  for  this  party,  and  some  of  their  testimony  is 
remarkable  indeed,  showing  the  pitiable  evasions  and 
contradictions,  and  the  flat  formality  to  which  they  were 
compelled  to  resort  by  their  eflbrts  to  avoid  the  vital 
question  of  doctrines. 

The  main  portion  of  the  evidence  related  to  small 
points  of  fact  and  order,  at  the  time  of  the  conflict  re- 
specting clerks ;  as  if  that  question,  in  itself  and  of  itself, 
could  have  been  of  sufficient  importance  (with  nothing 
to  base  it  upon  but  these  points  of  order)  to  warrant  such 
a  schism  in  any  professedly  Christian  church.  Some 
of  the  testimony,  however,  was  worthy  of  note,  showing 


1868.]  THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


265 


the  flimsy  character  of  the  evidence  on  which  they  based 
their  case. 

George  K.  Jenkins,  on  the  part  of  the  plaintiffs,  is  re- 
corded as  declaring,  in  reference  to  what  occurred  during 
the  Yearly  Meeting,  "My  conscience  has  nothing  to  do 
with  this  epiestion;"  and  he  designated  a  connection  of 
Ohio  Yearly  Meeting  with  the  troubles  in  New  England, 
as  "  getting  into  a  broil  with  regard  to  some  difficulty 
away  off'." 

William  J.  Harrison,  another  of  the  plaintiffs'  wit- 
nesses, stated  the  numbers  of  those  attached  to  theBinns 
Yearly  Meeting  as  2100  at  that  time,  including  the 
Quarterly  Meeting  of  Alum  Creek,  transferred  to  it  by 
Indiana  Yearly  Meeting.  He  also  stated  the  numbers 
in  the  last-named  Yearly  Meeting  to  be  about  14,000, 
Western  about  12,000,  and  Iowa  from  10  to  14,000; 
but  what  authority  he  had  for  these  numbers  does  not 
appear. 

William  S.  Bates,  who  had  left  the  Society  altogether 
soon  after  the  separation,  was  much  clearer  in  his  state- 
ments respecting  the  usages  of  the  Society,  and  partic- 
ularly as  to  the  mutual  connection  and  responsibility  of 
Yearly  Meetings,  than  any  other  of  the  plaintiffs'  wit- 
nesses. He  distinctly  recognized  the  truth,  that  a  Yearly 
Meeting,  departing  from  the  faith  and  fundamental  doc- 
trines of  the  Society,  "ceased  to  be  Friends,  of  course," 
and  that  such  departure  gave  other  Yearly  Meetings 
"  the  right  to  interfere."*  Yet  even  this  opportunity 
was  not  taken  by  the  Hoyle  party,  to  show  how  the 

*  See  the  printed  testimony  in  the  ease,  p.  98. 
vol.  ii.— 23 


266 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIEXDS  IN     [CHAP.  XIV. 


ancient  faith  had  been  laid  waste  by  the  measures  of  the 
Gurneyites. 

George  Gilbert,  for  the  defendants,  testified:  "I  think 
"B.  Hoyle  always  stood  on  the  ground,  that  it  was  not 
"  best  to  have  anything  to  do  with  either  body  in  Xew 
"  England  until  the  matter  was  settled  there." 

Jesse  Cope,  also  a  witness  for  the  Hoyle  party,  being 
cross-examined  by  plaintiffs'  counsel,  said,  in  regard  to 
what  was  the  matter  with  the  Yearly  Meetings  with 
which  they  (the  Hoyle  party)  did  not  correspond  :  "  That 
would  be  a  matter  of  doctrine,  which  I  think  is  not  to 
be  admitted  here."  Soon  afterwards,  the  Court  having 
decided  that  a  certain  question  was  objectionable,  and 
that  plaintiffs  "  had  no  right  to  ask  what  the  departure 
in  doctrine  was,"  the  counsel  for  plaintiff's  took  excep- 
tion to  the  ruling  of  the  Court  ;  which  seems  at  least  to 
indicate  an  inclination  on  their  part  to  challenge  the 
opposite  party  on  the  question  of  doctrines,  as  if  they 
knew  well  that  they  would  not  dare  to  touch  it. 

Benjamin  Hoyle,  being  questioned  :*  "  Then  if  the 
old  clerk  is  at  the  table,  there  is  no  power  to  remove 
him  ?"  answered  :  "  It  was  according  to  the  settled  order 
"  of  the  meeting  that  I  acted,  on  the  ground  that  the 
"  meeting  had  no  power  to  appoint  a  new  clerk  when 
"  the  representatives  disagree." 

Question  by  the  Court. — "Suppose  that  at  the  next  Yearly 
"Meeting  you  should  discover  that  your  clerk  had  become  a 
"  Hicksite,  and  that  a  majority  of  your  representatives  present 
"had  embraced  Hicksite  doctrines,  and  therefore  would  not 
"he  able  to  agree  upon  a  clerk,  and  the  members  of  the  rep- 


*  See  the  printed  Testimony  in  the  case  of  Harrison,  etc.,  v.  Hoyle,  etc.,  in 
the  Supreme  Court  of  Ohio,  page  120,  etc. 


1868.]  THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY.  267 


"  resentative  body  who  had  not  embraced  those  doctrines 
"should  report  the  name  of  a  candidate  for  clerk,  would  the 
"meeting  be  compelled  to  keep  the  Hicksite  clerk  for  another 
"year?" 

Answer. — "  There  is  no  means  of  removing  a  person  for  such 
"a  cause,  except  by  the  action  of  the  Monthly  Meeting  of 
"which  he  is  a  member,  according  to  the  rules  of  discipline. 
"  There  is  a  prescribed  way,  and  it  would  be  unsafe  to  displace 
"  any  clerk,  whether  Hicksite  or  what  else.  If  he  becomes 
"  unsound,  it  is  for  his  Monthly  Meeting  to  take  away  his 
"right  of  membership,  if  he  cannot  be  restored.  I  think  the 
"meeting  would  have  to  retain  him,  notwithstanding  he  was 
"a  Hicksite.  The  Monthly  Meeting  takes  away  his  right  of 
"membership,  and  their  action  must  be  dealt  with  by  the 
"  Quarterly  Meeting.  He  must  retain  his  position  as  clerk 
"until  these  proceedings  can  be  gone  through  with." 

Question. — "Suppose  a  clerk  comes  to  the  table  in  liquor, 
"are  you  bound  to  keep  a  clerk  at  the  table  who  is  drunk 
"every  time  he  goes  there  ?" 

Answer. — "I  have  never  known  such  a  case.  If  he  is  ap- 
pointed clerk,  he  is  appointed  for  the  ensuing  year,  unless 
"displaced  by  the  Monthly  Meeting,  and  his  right  of  mem- 
"bership  is  taken  away;  and  then,  if  his  right  of  member- 
"ship  is  taken  away,  or  he  is  removed  by  death,  it  is  for  the 
"representatives  to  report  another  clerk." 

Question. — "  But  suppose  they  could  not  agree  V" 

Answer. — "That  is  a  case  that  cannot  occur." 

....  Question. — "  Do  you  regard  the  Society  of  Friends  as 
"a  unity  [unit]  ?" 

Answer. — "I  do.  There  is  but  one  Society  of  Friends 
"  throughout  the  world.  I  expect  there  is  a  considerable  num- 
"ber  of  bodies  that  claim  to  be  Yearly  Meetings,  the  same  as 
"we  do.  We  have  not  taken  away  the  right  of  any  Yearly 
"  Meeting  claiming  to  be  so;  though  Indiana  claims  to  take 
"away  the  right  of  Ohio  Yearly  Meeting,  we  have  never 
"  taken  action  to  take  away  their  right.*    There  is  a  regular 

*  Why  then  invade  its  jurisdiction  by  setting  up  Monthly  Meetings  within  it? 


268 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN     [CHAP.  XIV. 


"  Yearly  Meeting  of  the  Society  of  Friends  claiming  that  char- 
acter in  Indiana  and  Iowa."  .... 

Question. — "Are  there  not  two  separate  organizations  call- 
"  ing  themselves  the  Society  of  Friends  ?" 

Answer.— "  Yes ;  there  is  in  Ohio  Yearly  Meeting,  and 
"  there  are  two  in  Xew  England." 

Question. — "  Is  there  a  portion  of  your  organization  in 
"Iowa?" 

Answer. — "  Yes  ;  there  is  a  Quarterly  Meeting  there."* 
Question. — "And  there  is  a  Yearly  Meeting  in  Iowa  that 
"  does  not  recognize  that  Quarterly  Meeting  ?" 
Answer. — "  Yes." 

Question. — "  There  are  two  then  in  Iowa  ?" 
Ansicer. — "Yes." 

Question. — "If  your  Meeting  and  this  Quarterly  Meeting 
"are  the  genuine  legitimate  Society  of  Friends,  then  the 
"Yearly  Meetings  of  Indiana  and  Western,  which  recognized 
"  Binns,  are  not  meetings  of  the  Society  of  Friends  ?" 

Ansicer. — "I  do  not  understand  the  question." 

Question. — "I  mean,  if  yours  is  the  only  legitimate  Society 
"of  Friends  in  the  world,  then  the  Binns  meeting  and  those 
"which  affiliate  with  it,  do  not  belong  to  the  Society  of 
"Friends?" 

Answer. — "  I  have  not  disfranchised  any  particular  Society. 
"  They  do  not  recognize  us  ;  we  have  no  communication  with 
"them  whatever.  They  were  established  as  legitimate,  but 
"so  far  as  they  have  identified  themselves  with  the  Binns 
"party,  we  do  not  recognize  them." 

On  Re-examination. — "I  do  not  expect  that  Ohio  Yearly 
"  Meeting  could  decide  upon  the  question  as  to  whether  In- 
' 1  diana  Yearly  Meeting  is  or  is  not  what  it  claims  to  be. "  .  .  .  . 

Charles  Evans,  of  Philadelphia,  testified,  among  other 
things,  as  follows  :f 

*  Alluding  to  a  Monthly  (and  afterwards  a  Quarterly)  Meeting  set  up  by  Ohio 
in  Iowa,  as  mentioned  in  the  last  chapter, 
f  "Testimony,"  Supreme  Court  of  Ohio,  Harrison,  etc., v.  Iloyle, etc.,  p.  130,  etc. 


1868.]  THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY.  269 


Question. — What  is  the  practice  of  the  Yearly  Meetings 
"on  receiving  ministers  and  members  of  other  Yearly  Meet- 
ings ?" 

Answer. — "  It  is  usual  in  Yearly  Meetings,  Avhen  ministers 
"  come,  that  they  present  their  credentials,  and  they  are  heard 
"  in  the  meeting.  That  is  the  usual  practice.  Philadelphia 
"has  suspended  that  for  many  j'ears,  and  it  does  not  hold 
"  itself  called  upon  to  read  certificates  of  members  which  come 
"among  them,  but  receive  them  nevertheless,  and  they  enjoy 
"  their  rights  as  ministers."*  .... 

Question. — "What  appeal  is  there  from  the  action  of  the 
"  Yearly  Meeting  to  a  higher  body,  on  questions  of  a  disciplin- 
"  ary,  judicial,  or  legislative  character,  or  on  questions  that  in 
"  any  way  affect  the  property  of  the  Yearly  Meeting  ?" 

Answer. — "  There  is  no  authority  in  the  Society  of  Friends 
"superior  to  the  Yearly  Meeting.  Every  Yearly  Meeting  is 
"  an  independent  body — independent  in  itself— connected  with 
"the  Society  of  Friends  at  large  through  the  medium  of  a 
"common  faith,  but  holding  no  relation  of  subordination  to 
"any  part  of  the  Society,  except  that  which  it  constitutes 
"itself.  The  union  is  one  of  Christian  fellowship,  simply."  .  .  . 

....  Question  (in  cross-examination). — "Why  has  your 
"correspondence  with  the  Hoyle  meeting  not  been  contin- 
"  ued?" 

Answer. — "  There  has  been  in  the  Society  of  Friends  within 
"the  last  thirty  years,  a  considerable  contrariety  of  opinion 
"  upon  points  of  doctrine.  Philadelphia  Yearly  Meeting  took 
"  its  stand  upon  what  it  believed  to  be  the  doctrines  of  Friends, 
"  and  endeavored,  as  far  as  it  could,  to  maintain  those  doctrines 
"and  support  them,  while  there  were  others  who,  it  believed, 
"  were  endeavoring  to  disseminate  their  doctrines.  These  of 
"  course  held  it  disunited,  and  in  the  course  of  the  correspond- 
"  ence  which  took  place,  there  was  found  a  great  contrariety  of 
"  sentiment  making  itself  manifest  in  the  Yearly  Meeting.  And 
"  it  was  finally  concluded  that,  inasmuch  as  the  correspond- 
"ence  was  not  necessary  for  the  meeting  to  keep  up,  it  would 


*  But  he  omitted  to  say  that  this  "suspension''  was  a  violation  of  their  own 
Discipline.    The  rule  remained  intact,  but  was  evaded. 


270 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN     [CHAP.  XIV. 


"be  better  tbat  it  should  be  all  laid  to  one  side,  and  at  the 
"time  it  was  concluded  to  hold  no  correspondence  with  any 
"  other  Yearly  Meeting.  The  Yearly  Meeting  of  Ohio  was 
"included  in  that  conclusion." 

Question. — "  I  understand  you  hold  the  Yearly  Meetings  to 
"  be  entirely  independent  ?" 

Answer. — "Yes." 

....  Question  [the  counsel  having  referred  to  New  Eng- 
land].— "  Then  you  do  take  cognizance  of  other  Yearly  Meet- 
" ings  ?" 

Answer. — "We  take  cognizance  so  far  as  this,  that  when 
"  the  question  was  presented  to  Philadelphia  Yearly  Meeting 
"  as  to  whether  it  would  cut  off  a  large  number  of  persons  from 
"  the  Society  of  Friends,  it  inquired  into  the  position  they  then 
"  occupied,  and  in  its  investigation,  finding  there  had  been,  as 
"it  believed,  a  violation  of  the  discipline  of  New  England 
"  Yearly  Meeting,  they  pointed  that  out,  and  sent  these  docu- 
"  ments  that  I  speak  of,  and  then  granted  the  rights  of  mem- 
"  bership  to  both  those  bodies  to  attend  Philadelphia  Yearly 
"  Meeting." 

Question. — "Do  you  now  in  Philadelphia  Yearly  Meeting 
"receive  ministers  accredited  by  the  subordinate  meetings  in 
"  the  Binns  Yearly  Meeting  ?" 

Answer. — "  We  never  have  had  one  present  himself,  or  I  have 
"  no  recollection  of  it." 

Question. —  "Do  you  receive  members  of  those  meetings,  and 
"recognize  them?" 

Answer.- — "  Since  this  has  been  mentioned  to  me,  I  do  rec- 
ollect one,  a  woman  friend,  that  had  escaped  my  memory, 
"  who  presented  her  certificate.  That  was,  like  all  others, 
"  not  received.  We  received  none  from  any  Yearly  Meeting, 
"  from  neither  of  the  bodies  in  Ohio,  and  from  no  other  Yearly 
"Meeting." 

Question. — "You  said  something  about  her,  nevertheless, 
"  being  permitted  to  enter  the  meeting  as  a  Friend  V" 
Answer. — "Certainly,  she  was." 

Question. — "That  is  what  I  want  to  know,  whether  any 
"  who  belong  to  the  Binns  meeting  in  Ohio  are  recognized  ?" 


1868.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


271 


Answer. — "The  Binns  party  was  recognized  in  that  in- 
"  stance,  I  have  understood.  I  was  not  cognizant  of  the  facts, 
"  hut  heard  of  her  having  been  at  different  meetings  within 
"our  limits,  and  speaking  as  a  minister." 

Question. — "Do  you  regard  that  as  the  practice  of  your 
"meeting  in  that  particular,  that  they  will  so  receive  them  ?" 

Answer. — "They  will  receive  them  as  members  of  Ohio 
"Yearly  Meeting,  when  they  would  not  receive  certificates 
"which  the  meeting  granted  to  those  individuals,  as  coming 
"from  Ohio  Yearly  Meeting." 

Question. — "They  would,  nevertheless,  recognize  them  as 
"  ministers  of  the  Society  of  Friends  ?" 

Answer. — "Unless  they  had  certain  knowledge  that  they 
"  had  heen  disowned  from  the  Society." 

Question. — "  Don't  you  deal  with  the  ministers  of  the  Hoyle 
"meetings  in  much  the  same  way  ?" 

Answer. — "We  take  no  cognizance  of  their  credentials, 
"  hut  allow  them  to  exercise  their  functions." 

....  Question. — "If  I  understand  you,  you  say  that  the 
"connection  between  those  Yearly  Meetings  is  simply  a 
"  Christian  brotherhood,  without  any  power  over  each  other's 
"standing  in  that  brotherhood." 

Answer. — "Yes." 

....  The  Court. — "  You  said,  a  moment  ago,  that  if  a 
"minister  or  member  from  Binns's  party  should  come  into 
"  your  jurisdiction,  you  would  allow  him  to  exercise  his  gifts, 
"  unless  you  knew  he  had  been  disowned.  Suppose  you  knew 
"that  Mr.  Hoyle's  meeting  had  disowned  him,  would  it  not 
'•  prevent  your  recognizing  him?" 

Answer. — "  I  cannot  say  whether  it  would  or  not  " 

....  The  Court. — *"  Do  you  recognize  the  right  in  one 
"  Yearly  Meeting  to  erect  or  establish  a  Quarterly  Meeting  in 
"the  jurisdiction  of  another'?" 

Question. — "JSTot  under  ordinary  circumstances.  There 
"  may  a  condition  of  things  occur  in  which  the  Yearly  Meet- 
"  ing  would  he  obliged  to  go  beyond  the  ordinary  usage  of  the 
"  Society  in  doing  that." 


*  Testimony,  p.  138. 


272 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN     [CHAP.  XIV. 


Question. — "Is  there,  or  can  there  be,  more  than  one  So- 
"ciety  of  Friends?" 

Answer. — "  There  is  but  one  Society  of  Friends." 

Question. — "Then,  in  the  recognition  of  one  Ohio  Meeting, 
"you  necessarily  exclude  the  recognition  of  the  other?" 

Answer. — "Yes,  as  a  Yearly  Meeting." 

Question. — "Then,  do  you  recognize  Yearly  Meetings  of 
"the  Society  elsewhere  which  are  in  correspondence  with  the 
"Biuns  meeting?" 

Answer. — "Under  peculiar  circumstances  it  might  be  so." 

Question'. — "Would  the  Yearly  Meeting  of  the  Society  of 
"Friends  in  Ohio  be  justifiable,  or  have  a  right  to  establish 
"Quarterly  Meetings  within  the  limits  of  other  Yearly  Meet- 
"  ings  of  the  Society  of  Friends  ?" 

Answer. — "  That  would  depend  upon  the  action  of  the  other 
"  Yearly  Meetings.  If  Ohio  maintained  its  integrity  as  a 
"  Yearly  Meeting  of  the  Society  of  Friends,  and  the  other 
"  Yearly  Meetings  refused  to  allow  it  to  avail  itself  of  the 
"privileges  of  the  Yearly  Meetings ;  if  they  refuse  to  recog- 
"  nize  its  members,  so  that  they  cannot  become  incorporated 
"into  the  Yearly  Meetings  within  the  limits  of  which  they 
"reside,  when  they  have  gone  out  of  the  limits  of  Ohio  Yearly 
"  Meeting,  then  it  would  become  necessary  for  the  Yearly 
"Meeting  of  Ohio,  in  order  to  keep  up  its  care  over  its  mem- 
"  bers,  to  create  meetings  for  that  purpose." 

Question.  —  "Does  not  that  simply  result,  if  it  is  extended, 
"in  the  organization  of  two  religious  Societies  of  Friends  ?" 

Answer. — "  No." 

Question. — "Suppose  that  the  Yearly  Meeting  of  Ohio 
"should  find  members  desiring  to  belong  to  its  meetings  all 
"over  the  country,  and  should  organize  Quarterly  Meetings 
"in  Xew  England,  Maryland,  Iowa,  Kansas,  wherever  there 
"  were  Yearly  Meetings  of  the  Society,  would  it  not  appear 
"to  be  the  organization  of  two  Societies  of  Friends  ?" 

Answer. — "No.  Allow  me  to  explain.  The  Society  of 
"Friends  is  a  body  which  professes  certain  doctrines  and  tes- 
"timonies.  While  it  maintains  these  doctrines  and  testi- 
"  monies,  it  is  the  Society  of  Friends  under  all  circumstances. 


1868.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


273 


"  It  makes  no  difference  as  regards  the  position  in  which 
"  members  are  placed  in  relation  to  any  other  body,  if  it 
"maintains  these  doctrines  it  is  the  Society  of  Friends.  In 
"the  organization  of  the  Society  of  Friends,  for  the  purpose 
"  of  exercising  disciplinary  care  over  its  members,  and  acquir- 
ing and  holding  property,  and  the  other  things  which 
"  Yearly  Meetings  can  perform,  it  is  divided  into  a  certain 
"number  of  Yearly  Meetings.  These  Yearly  Meetings  are 
"independent  of  each  other,  so  far  that  they  exist  without 
"the  assent  of  the  others,*  and  having  once  been  established, 
"the  others  cannot  take  from  them  the  character  of  a  relig- 
"  ious  Society  of  Friends.  They  may  take  from  them  par- 
"  ticipation  in  the  organization  which  previously  existed  in 
"  the  Society  of  Friends  before  the  difficulty  occurred." 

Question. — "Suppose  that  instead  of  one  Quarterly  Meet- 
ing in  the  State  of  Iowa,  that  the  Hoyle  Meeting  should 
"organize  three,  and  that  these  three  shall  organize  a  sepa- 
rate Yearly  Meeting,  would  there  not  then  be  two  Yearly 
"Meetings  in  Iowa  V  Then  if  it  extends  its  jurisdiction 
"  throughout  the  territorial  limits  of  the  Society  in  the  United 
"States,  creating  additional  subordinate  and  Yearly  Meet- 
ings, have  you  not  then  two  Societies  of  Friends  in  the 
"United  States  ?" 

Answer. — "No.  We  have  one  Society  of  Friends,  with 
"  two  organizations.  We  have  but  one  Society  of  Friends, 
"because  the  Society  of  Friends  depends,  not  upon  the  or- 
ganization of  its  meetings,  which  may  be  altered  from  time 
"to  time,  but  depends  on  the  maintenance  of  certain  doc- 
"  fcrines  and  principles." 

Question.  —  "Well,  now,  then,  what  objection  have  you  to 
"corresponding  with  the  Binns  Meeting  ?" 

Answer. — "It  is  not  set  up  in  the  order  of  Society." 

Question. — "  Are  these  Iowa  Meetings,  set  up  by  the  Hoyle 
"Yearly  Meeting,  in  the  order  of  Society?" 

Answt  r. — "  Yes.  They  are  in  the  order,  under  the  circum- 
"  stances  in  which  they  are  placed." 

*  The  defectiveness  of  these  assertions  must  be  manifest  to  the  reader. 
vol.  ii. — 24 


274 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN     [CHAP.  XIV. 


Question. — "What  will  you  do,  then,  with  the  two  Meet- 
ings in  Iowa?  They  will  both  be  Yearly  Meetings  of 
"Friends,  but  not  both  Yearly  Meetings  in  the  order  of  So- 
"ciety,  will  they  ?" 

Answer. — "  I  do  not  see  why  they  are  not." 

Question. — "Have  they  unity  ?" 

Answer.— "  They  may  not  have  that  unity  which  ought  to 
"  exist." 

Question. — "You  would  recognize  them  both  ?" 

Answer. — "Yes,  if  they  maintained  the  doctrines  of  the 
"Society,  and  had  been  regularly  set  up  and  established." 

Question. — "  How  could  such  a  state  of  things  exist  with- 
' '  out  leading  to  abuses,  and  to  great  confusion  in  all  their 
"arrangements  ?" 

Answer. — "It  would  undoubtedly  lead  to  confusion — to  a 
"great  deal  of  confusion." 

Question. — "  Is  it  not  impracticable  ?" 

Answer. — "  It  is  not  impracticable,  because  it  is  in  exist- 
"  ence  at  the  present  time.  AVe  see  two  bodies  in  Ohio  calling 
"  themselves  Yearly  Meetings."  

Question. — *"He  [Thomas  Evans]  was  a  brother  of  yours?" 

Answer. — "  He  was." 

Question. — "Do  you  know  what  his  opinion  was  on  the 
"question  of  the  Ohio  Yearly  Meeting  separation  ?" 
Answer. — "  I  do  not." 

Question. — "  Was  he  the  author  of  a  pamphlet  on  the  sub- 
"  ject  of  the  Ohio  separation  ?" 
Ansioer. — "I  do  not  know." 

....  Question. — "  I  find  the  24th  interrogatory  (referring 
"  to  the  printed  testimony  of  the  witness  in  the  Swanzey 
"  [N.  E.,  1848]  case),  to  be  as  follows  :  'Suppose  the  larger 
"  '  part  of  a  Yearly  Meeting,  when  assembled  in  that  capacity, 
"  '  should  be,  together  with  their  clerk,  probably  [palpably] 
"  '  unsound,  as  evinced  by  their  having  promulgated  or  spread 
" '  in  the  Society  published  works  containing  doctrines  de- 
"  'cidedly  adverse  to  the  doctrines  of  the  Society  of  Friends, 


*  Tcstiruouy,  p.  144,  etc. 


1868.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


275 


"'and  knowingly  recommending,  aiding,  and  defending  the 
'"author  or  authors  who  have  essayed  to  engraft  into  and 
"  '  fasten  upon  the  Society  the  said  adverse  doctrines  ;  would 
"  '  it  or  not,  he  incumhent  upon  the  other  memhers  of  the 
"'  Yearly  Meeting  to  endeavor  to  maintain  and  uphold  the 
"  'same  upon  its  original  Christian  doctrines  to  the  honor  of 
"  '  Truth  ?'  And  this  is  puhlished  as  your  answer  :  '  Such  a 
••  •  Yearly  Meeting,  constituted  and  sustained  upon  the  origi- 
"  '  nal  doctrines  and  testimonies  of  Friends,  let  their  numhers 
"'be  as  few  as  they  might  be,  could  be  recognized  by  the 
'"other  Yearly  Meetings  of  Friends,  although  it  might  be 
"  '  necessary,  in  order  to  sustain  it,  to  enter  into  a  new  ap- 
"  '  pointment  of  officers.'*    Do  you  concur  in  this  now  ?" 

Answer. — "  I  do.  So  far  as  I  see,  I  believe  these  interrog- 
atories and  answers  are  mine,  but  I  cannot  recollect.  As 
"  far  as  I  see,  I  concur  in  them.  That  was  a  question  of  doc- 
"  trine.'''' 

This  closed  the  examination.  Here  was  an  emphatic 
implication — almost  a  direct  declaration — that  doctrines 
were  not  involved  in  the  dispute  in  Ohio!  Had  not 
Charles  Evans  known  clearly  to  the  contrary?  Did  he 
not  know  that  the  Gurney  doctrines  were  at  the  very 
basis  of  the  dispute?  Let  his  various  publications,  ex- 
tending over  a  long  series  of  years,  testify  to  this,  yea 
or  nay. 

There  was  a  similar  evasiveness  in  Benjamin  Hoyle's 
testimony  in  regard  to  doctrines  being  involved  in  this 
case.  But  both  he  and  Charles  Evans  did  certainly 
know  that  the  same  essential  animus  gave  vitality  to  the 
contention  in  Ohio,  which  had  enkindled  and  character- 
ized the  contest  in  New  England ;  even  the  strife  for 
prevalency  between  the  doctrinal  innovations  of  ( rurney- 


*  Depositions  of  Defendants  in  Fall  River  Suit,  p.  :i()8. 


27G 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN     [CHAP.  XIV. 


ism  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  primitive  doctrines  of 
Friends  on  the  other.  How  could  they  then,  by  such 
evasion,  put  aside  the  true  and  all-important  issue,  and 
thus  place  the  Yearly  Meeting  of  Ohio  in  the  disgrace- 
ful attitude  of  a  mere  wrangling  about  two  men  for  its 
clerk  ? 

It  appears  clear  from  the  testimony  of  witnesses  on 
both  sides,  and  from  the  pleadings  of  counsel  on  both 
sides,  that  this  exclusion  of  all  development  of  the  true 
cause  of  the  difficulty  had  been  mutually  agreed  on; 
but  there  are  indications  which  seem  to  show  at  least 
a  probability  that  it  was  originally  at  the  suggestion  of 
the  Hoyle  party.  The  plaintiffs'  counsel  several  times 
seemed  to  open  the  way  for  alluding  to  doctrines  in 
their  questions  to  the  defendants'  witnesses,  but  it  was 
always  evaded. 

D.  D.  T.  Cowen,  of  counsel  for  the  Hoyle  party,  said, 
in  the  course  of  his  argument  (p.  26) : 

"  During  the  progress  of  the  trial  of  this  case  in  the  Dis- 
"  trict  Court,  it  was  dec  ided  in  effect  by  the  Court,  and  I  think 
"properly  decided,  that  this  question  [respecting  the  pro- 
priety of  allowing  Thomas  13.  Gould  to  sit  in  the  Yearly 
Meeting  of  Ohio]  had  no  bearing  on  the  case,  and  it  was 
"incompetent  to  introduce  testimony  in  relation  to  it.  The 
"plaintiffs^  counsel  [Binns's]  put  to  their  witness,  Elwood 
"Ratcliff,  the  question:  'Was  T.  B.  Gould  in  attendance  at 
" '  Ohio  Yearly  Meeting,  in  1854,  bearing  a  certificate  from 
"'the  Yearly  Meeting  of  New  England,  of  which  he  was 
"  'clerk?'  This  question  was  objected  to  [of  course  by  the 
opposite  counsel  of  the  Hoyle  party],  and  the  objection  was 
"sustained.  The  plaintiffs'  counsel  [Binns's]  excepted  to  the 
"ruling  of  the  Court.  (Pp.  44-5.)" 

In  a  subsequent  part  of  his  pleading  the  same  counsel 
(Cowen)  further  says : 


1868.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


277 


"The  questions  before  this  Court  are  questions  of  disci- 
"  pline,  and  not  of  doctrine.  There  is  no  dispute  about  that, 
"and  the  case  has  been  tried  icith  that  understanding.'''' 

In  the  printed  argument  of  Benjamin  Stanton,  of* 
counsel  for  the  Biuns  party,  he  says  (p.  21): 

"Was  it  a  question  of  mere  personal  aggrandizement,  and 
"  a  struggle  for  place  and  power  on  the  part  of  the  candidate  V 
"It  was  clear  that  there  was  something  more  than  this.  The 
"  parties  named  as  clerks  were  the  representatives  of  parties 
"in  the  Society,  and  each  was  the  representative  of  the  sen- 
"  timents  of  those  by  whom  he  was  supported.  Was  it  a  dif- 
ference about  doctrine?  If  it  was,  then  clearly  we  may 
"inquire,  which  of  the  parties  held  the  approved  doctrines 
"  of  the  Society  V  But  it  is  agreed  on  all  Iionrfx  that  there  is  no 
"  dispute  about  doctrine — that  both  held  the  approved  doc- 
"  trines  of  the  ancient  Society  of  Friends.  Then  what  was 
"  the  dispute  about  ?" 

He  follows  this  up  by  a  very  superficial  and  partisan 
reference  to  the  opposition  made  in  New  England  to 
J.  J.  Gurney,  and  the  separation  there,  charging  J.  Wil- 
bur, T.  B.  Gould,  and  their  associates,  with  being  "  mal- 
contents and  seccders  ;  "  and  then  says  (p.  32): 

"If  it  was  a  dispute  about  doctrines,  the  Court  would  go 
"into  their  creeds,  to  see  which  held  the  ancient  doctrines 
"of  the  Society.  But  it  is  a  question  of  submission  to,  or 
"departure  from,  the  government  of  the  Church,"  etc. 

And  toward  the  close  of  his  plea  he  makes  the  fol- 
lowing remarkable  assertion  : 

"A  religious  society  has  as  much  right  to  change  its  doc- 
"  trine,  as  it  has  to  change  its  discipline  and  government." 

On  a  retrospective  glance  at  some  of  the  above  quoted 
evidence,  it  is  obvious  that  Benjamin  Hoyle  endeavored 


278 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN     [CHAP.  XIV. 


to  show  that  under  no  circumstances  could  a  Yearly 
Meeting  disengage  itself  from  a  regularly  chosen  clerk, 
unless  he  had  been  superseded  by  an  agreement  of  the 
representatives,  or  had  been  disowned  by  his  own 
Monthly  Meeting.  Thus  a  Yearly  Meeting  might  be 
subjected  to  the  necessity  of  keeping  in  service  a  "drunk- 
en" clerk,  or  "a  Hicksite,"  or  one  guilty  of  reproachful 
conduct,  if  the  representatives  could  not  agree  on  his  suc- 
cessor, or  there  had  not  been  timely  knowledge  of  his 
faults  for  his  own  Monthly  Meeting  to  act  in  the  usual 
exercise  of  the  discipline.  A  new  doctrine,  surely,  in 
the  Society  of  Friends,  and  only  consistent  with  a  state 
of  lifeless  formality! 

The  entanglement  of  this  witness,  and  also  of  Dr. 
Charles  Evans,  in  their  attempts  to  justify  the  action  of 
Ohio  Yearly  Meeting  in  setting  up  a  Monthly  Meeting 
in  Iowa,  within  the  limits  of  another  Yearly  Meeting, 
while  endeavoring  to  avoid  the  only  justification  of  such 
action,  viz.,  the  honest  declaration  of  their  belief,  accom- 
panied with  proof,  that  this  other  Yearly  Meeting  had 
departed  from  the  essential  groundwork  of  the  Society, 
and  could,  therefore,  be  no  longer  recognized  as  a  meet- 
ing of  Friends,  was  indeed  hardly  to  be  expected  from 
their  character  as  sensible  men. 

Charles  Evans,  too  (see  page  269),  must  have  known 
that  a  Yearly  Meeting  is  in  very  deed  no  more  inde- 
pendent of  its  brotherhood  of  Yearly  Meetings  abiding 
in  the  Truth,  than  an  individual  member  is  independent 
of  his  brother  members ;  and  that  if  a  Yearly  Meeting 
breaks  the  compact  by  sanctioning  a  fundamental  depar- 
ture from  the  great  characteristics  of  the  family  of  Yearly 
Meetings,  it  is  equally  liable  to  be  called  to  account  by 


1868.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


279 


those  who  remain  faithful,  as  in  individual  cases.  Else, 
as  the  Society  "is  a  unit,"  what  becomes  of  Robert  Bar- 
clay's doctrine,  as  stated  in  his  work,  "  The  Anarchy  of 
the  Ranters,  etc.?"  And  what  becomes  of  C.  Evans's 
own  declaration  in  the  "Considerations,"  pages  21  and 
22?  And  what  becomes  of  Samuel  Bettle's  testimony  in 
the  Hicksian  suit  in  1830?* 

Both  B.  Hoyle  and  C.  Evans  endeavored  to  make  it 
appear  that  the  reason  for  setting  up  an  Ohio  Monthly 
Meeting  within  the  limits  of  Indiana  Yearly  Meeting  in 
Iowa,  was  that  Indiana  Yearly  Meeting  had  refused  to 
grant  privileges  of  membership  to  those  emigrating  from 
the  Hoyle  meeting;  but  such  was  known  well  enough 
not  to  have  been  the  true  reason  at  the  time  of  that  event. 
Many  of  the  members  removing  to  Iowa  were  not  will- 
ing to  be  brought''  under  the  jurisdiction  of  Indiana 
Yearly  Meeting,  and  the  Hoyle  Yearly  Meeting  desired 
to  protect  them  from  this,  and  at  the  same  time  to  extin- 
guish the  hopes  of  a  small  remnant  who  had  already,  as 
a  Quarterly  Meeting,  separated  in  Iowa  from  the  lapsed 
Indiana  Yearly  Meeting,  and  were  in  correspondence 
with  the  small  body  of  Friends  in  New  England. 

The  idea  of  Charles  Evans  in  regard  to  "  one  Society 
of  Friends  with  two  organizations,"  is  too  preposterous 
to  be  soberly  entertained  by  any  one,  who  considers  that 
two  organizations  in  one  place  must  necessarily  be  an- 
tagonistic, and  cannot,  therefore,  be  of  one  and  the  same 
body.  "  Confusion,"  indeed,  would  be,  and  was,  the 
inevitable  result  of  such  reasoning. 

The  Supreme  Court  of  Ohio  consisted  of  five  Judges. 
This  Court,  after  long  delay,  decided,  by  a  decree  dated 


*  See  Vol.  I,  of  tli is  work,  page  210. 


280 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN     [CHAP.  XIV. 


sixth  month  20th,  1874,  in  favor  of  the  plaintiffs,  the 
Binns  party.  In  coming  to  this  judgment,  the  vote  was, 
two  in  favor  of  giving  the  property  to  the  Hoyle  party, 
who  already  occupied  it,  and  three  to  the  Binns  party. 
The  property  was  accordingly  delivered  over  to  the 
plaintiffs — the  original  Gurney  party  represented  by 
Jonathan  Binns  as  clerk — on  the  1st  of  the  eighth  month 
of  the  same  year. 

It  would  not  be  worth  while  now  to  quibble  about 
mistakes  made  by  the  Court  in  coming  to  this  decision, 
in  a  case  which  they  had  so  defectively  set  before  them. 
They  seemed  to  have  a  very  imperfect  acquaintance  with 
the  road  on  which  they  were  travelling,  and  stumbled 
like  men  passing  over  a  swamp  in  the  dark.  But  not 
more  so  than  might  have  been  looked  for,  and,  right  or 
wrong,  their  judgment  is  now  the  law  of  the  State  of 
Ohio.  The  principal  grounds  of  their  opinion  appear  to 
have  been,  first,  that  J.  Binns  was  in  some  way  {regularly 
or  irregularly,  as  Judge  Shaw  said  in  the  Fall  River 
suit)  named  and  appointed  as  clerk  in  the  Yearly  Meet- 
ing; and,  secondly,  but  mainly,  that  the  standing  of  the 
body  for  which  he  acted  had  been  afterwards  sanctioned 
by  all  the  other  Yearly  Meetings  except  Philadelphia, 
leaving  out  of  view  the  "  Smaller  Bodies,"  which  the 
Hoyle  party  had  not  dared  to  appear  to  reckon  as 
brethren. 

Whether  this  claim  will  be  further  pursued  by  the 
Binns  party  taking  measures  to  obtain  the  meeting- 
houses and  other  property  of  the  Yearly  Meeting  on  the 
strength  of  such  a  decision,  remains  to  be  seen.  The 
school  building  at  Mount  Pleasant  has  since  been 
destroyed  by  fire. 


1858.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


281 


CHAPTER  XV. 

ESTABLISHMENT  OF  THE  GENERAL  MEETING  FOR 
PENNSYLVANIA,  ETC.,  INDEPENDENT  OF  PHILA- 
DELPHIA YEARLY  MEETING. 

What  was  now  the  condition  of  affairs  in  the  Yearly 
Meeting  of  Philadelphia"?  Was  it  not  involved  in  iso- 
lation and  confusion,  through  its  own  timidity  and  un- 
warrantable tampering  with  the  inconsistencies  —  nay, 
with  the  sorrowful  .secessions  from  the  faith  of  Friends — 
which  2>revailed  around  it  and  in  its  midst?  There  was 
not  one  Yearly  Meeting  now,  with  which  it  dared  to 
resume  epistolary  correspondence,  for  fear  of  a  separa- 
tion within  its  own  borders,  either  of  one  class  or  the  other. 
Yet  a  far  more  powerful  instrument  of  communion 
with  the  bodies  lapsed  into  the  modern  views,  than  any 
epistolary  correspondence  could  possibly  be,  was  left 
open,  in  the  unrestricted  interchange  of  membership  by 
certificates,  in  cases  of  a  removal  from  one  section  of  the 
nominal  Society  to  another.  By  this  means  all  the 
Gurncy  meetings  in  England  and  America  could  be 
recognized  as  if  they  were  meetings  of  Friends,  and  the 
members  were  constantly  recommended  to  the  "  Christian 
care  and  oversight"  of  those  who  were  well  known  to 
have  departed  from  all  but  the  outside  form  and  name 
of  Quakerism.  This  was  a  palpable  element  of  com- 
plete amalgamation,  as  well  as  a  frustration  of  all  the 


282 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN     [CHAP.  XV. 


testimonies  hitherto  borne  by  Philadelphia  Yearly  Meet- 
ing against  this  heresy.  It  was,  in  effect,  binding  back 
again  all  the  Gnrney  Separatists  into  one  body  with 
Philadelphia,  and  practically  declaring  that  they  were 
no  separatists  after  all.  Under  this  system  the  most 
decided  advocates  of  schismatic  doctrines  and  practices, 
coming  from  the  most  palpably  schismatic  Yearly  Meet- 
ings, if  intending  to  reside  or  marry  within  a  meeting 
which  perhaps  demurred  at  directly  receiving  a  certifi- 
cate from  some  of  the  Gurney  meetings  (for  there  were 
for  a  time  a  few  that  so  demurred),  needed  but  to  stay, 
for  a  short  time,  within  another  Monthly  Meeting  which 
had  no  such  scruple,  and  then  by  a  transfer  could  have 
their  membership  recognized  wherever  they  desired. 
Such  cases  were  not  wanting. 

Although  Gurneyism  had  been  declared  by  some  of 
the  most  influential  country  members  of  the  Yearly 
Meeting  to  be  of  equal  danger  with  Hicksism  to  the 
true  principles  of  Friends  (see  page  245),  yet  no  disci- 
plinary measures  were  taken  by  which  to  attempt  to  stop 
its  currency  among  the  members.  Many  were  the  in- 
stances of  active  and  influential  members  attending  the 
yearly  and  other  meetings  of  the  Separatists,  in  contra- 
vention of  a  direct  rule  of  the  Discipline,*  forbidding- 
such  attendance.  Yet  they  not  only  escaped  disciplinary 
censure,  but  retained  their  positions  of  influence  in  the 
body,  either  as  ministers,  elders,  overseers,  or  in  other 
stations  of  importance;  although,  if  they  had  done  the 
same  in  regard  to  the  Hicksian  meetings,  they  would  have 
been  promptly  dealt  with,  and,  if  not  brought  to  a  sense 


*  Discipline  of  Philadelphia  Yearly  Meeting,  p.  70  and  71  of  old  edition. 


1858.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


283 


of  their  error,  unquestionably  disowned.  The  assistant 
clerk  of  Philadelphia  Yearly  Meeting  for  many  years 
(a  man  long  dearly  beloved  by  the  author)  was  one  who 
exemplified  this  ;  having  been  present  with  John  Pease 
at  the  separation  in  New  England,  in  1845,  and  par- 
ticipated with  the  Separatists  there,  and  subsequently 
cast  in  his  lot  openly  and  influentially  with  the  Gurney 
party ;  though  formerly  a  valuable  elder,  and  clear- 
sighted in  regard  to  the  unsoundness  of  J.  J.  Gurney's 
writings,  while  the  latter  Avas  in  this  land.  Nevertheless 
he  retained  his  position  at  the  clerk's  table  of  the  Yearly 
Meeting  for  many  years  afterwards,  and  his  station  as 
an  elder  until  his  decease. 

Eliza  P.  Gurney,  occupying  the  station  of  a  recognized 
minister,  was  another  instance,  equally  glaring,  having 
taken  part  openly  in  the  Ohio  Gurney  Separation,  and 
joined  in  with  the  others  of  the  same  class  throughout 
the  United  States,  without  at  all  losing  her  position  in 
Philadelphia  Yearly  Meeting. 

These  cases  are  mentioned  merely  as  obvious  evidence 
of  the  truth  of  the  remark  above  made,  that  the  provi- 
sions of  the  Discipline  were  totally  ignored  in  all  such 
instances,  which  were  a  great  multitude  indeed. 

In  the  Yearly  Meeting  itself,  the  Discipline  was  con- 
stantly and  openly  violated,  not  only  by  making  use,  on 
important  services  of  the  Society,  of  such  as  had  joined 
the  Separatists  by  attending  their  separate  meetings,  and 
constantly  advocating  their  cause;  but  also  in  its  recep- 
tion of  individuals  coining  as  ministers  with  credentials 
from  the  Gurney  meetings  in  Great  Britain  or  any  part 
of  America.  They  were  allowed  to  sit  in  the  Yearly 
Meeting,  and  take  a  part  in  its  business,  as  if  they  were 


284 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN     [CHAP.  XV. 


members  in  unity  ;  and  even  in  the  Yearly  Meeting  of 
Ministers  and  Elders  ;  yet  when  they  presented  their 
credentials,  they  were  not  allowed  to  be  read  in  the 
meeting,  contrary  to  an  express  rule  of  the  Discipline, 
which  declares  that  "the  Certificates  of  such  Friends, 
members  of  other  Yearly  Meetings,  who  from  a  re- 
ligious concern  are  drawn  to  attend  this,  are  to  be  read 
herein."*  If  we  look  back  to  the  former  troubles  from 
the  opposite  secession,  in  1828,  we  may  readily  perceive 
that  persons  so  circumstanced  would  not  have  been  ac- 
knowledged as  having  the  rights  of  members,  and  would, 
therefore,  not  have  been  allowed  to  attend  meetings  for 
discipline,  or  to  go  through  the  various  settlements  of 
Friends  within  our  limits,  in  the  line  of  the  ministry, 
without  let  or  hindrance,  or  even  rebuke.  These  should 
have  been  checked  in  like  manner,  being  equally  en- 
gaged in  pulling  down  the  ancient  landmarks  of  the 
Society  ;  and  then,  if  they  ventured  to  attend  the  Yearly 
Meeting,  they  might  properly  have  been  informed  that 
we  could  not  recognize  them  as  fellow-members,  nor 
their  meetings  as  meetings  of  Friends,  and,  therefore, 
we  could  not  accept  or  read  their  credentials.  But  to 
treat  them  as  members  and  ministers,  and  yet  refuse  to 
read  their  certificates,  was  a  plain  transgression  of  the 
Discipline  by  the  Yearly  Meeting  itself,  for  which  the 
'''middle  party  "  was  manifestly  accountable.  The  re- 
sult was,  that  a  succession  of  unsound  persons,  claiming 
to  be  ministers  of  the  gospel,  but  very  unfit  for  that 
weighty  service,  were  constantly  coming  from  various 
quarters,  and  travelling  in  that  capacity  within  our  limits, 


*  Discipline  of  Philadelphia  Yearly  Meeting,  page  1G0,  old  edition. 


1859.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


285 


unchecked  by  the  body,  to  the  great  bewilderment  of  the 
youth  and  others,  and  the  reproach  of  the  Truth. 

At  the  time  of  the  Hicksian  defection,  winch  was  no 
more  palpable  as  to  doctrine  than  this  one,  though  more 
unpopular  and  more  repulsive  in  some  of  its  features, 
the  Yearly  Meeting  of  Philadelphia  took  common  ground 
with  all  the  other  Yearly  Meetings  which  were  then  con- 
cerned to  maintain  the  principles  of  the  Society,  that 
meetings  or  individuals  implicated  manifestly  or  pro- 
fessedly in  unity  with  the  seceded  party  were  to  be 
treated  as  having  left  the  Society  of  Friends.  This 
was  a  sound  position,  and  indispensable  for  the  purity 
and  integrity  of  the  church.  Then  why  abandon  it 
now?  The  "middle  party"  alleged  that  they  were  all 
still  Friends,  though  involved  in  some  errors  of  doctrine 
and  practice,  and  that  they  had  some  sound  members 
among  them.  Yet  the  aberration  of  the  Yearly  Meet- 
ings in  acknowledging  fellowship  with  the  Gurneyites  of 
New  England  who  had  inaugurated  a  schism  for  the 
purpose  of  sustaining  the  influence  and  principles  of  J. 
J.  Gurney,  and  also  with  the  Yearly  Meeting  of  London, 
which  had  sanctioned  his  principles  and  liberated  him 
to  go  forth  to  propagate  them  in  the  Society  and  in  the 
world,  was  quite  as  palpable  as  the  aberration  of  the 
Hicksites  in  supporting  the  doctrines  and  influence  of 
Elias  Hicks.  And  those  departures  of  the  Yearly  Meet- 
ings involved  the  meetings  and  members  subordinate  to 
them,  as  clearly  in  one  ease  as  in  the  other. 

In  1859,  Joseph  E.  Maule  published  in  Philadelphia, 
"Remarks  on  acknowledging  Meetings  of  Separatists  as 
though  they  were  Meetings  of  Friends ;"  detailing  the 
manner  in  which  the  official  acts  of  the  Yearly  Meetings 


286 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN     [CHAP.  XV. 


of  Indiana  and  North  Carolina  proved  them  to  have 
gone  off  bodily  in  the  schism,  identifying  themselves 
with  the  seceded  Gurney  party  in  Ohio,  and  with  the 
same  departure  in  New  England  and  Great  Britain. 
This  pamphlet  was  extensively  circulated,  so  as  to  leave 
the  members  of  Philadelphia  Yearly  Meeting  without 
the  excuse  of  not  knowing  the  official  actions  of  those 
bodies,  or  without  a  brotherly  warning  of  the  conse- 
quences of  so  weakly  compromising  the  testimony  for 
the  truth  and  against  error,  which  had  been  faithfully 
sustained  by  that  Yearly  Meeting  in  former  years. 

The  Yearly  Meeting,  in  1859,  was  exhorted  to  attend 
to  the  very  serious  subject  of  the  interchange  of  mem- 
bership by  certificates  of  removal,  by  which  some  of  the 
Monthly  Meetings  were  already  thus  identifying  them- 
selves with  the  seceded  bodies,  contrary  to  the  Disci- 
pline.* The  rule  of  discipline  in  question,  is  substan- 
tially as  follows  : 

"  If  any  of  our  members  should  attend  the  meetings  of  those 
"who  have  separated  from  us,  and  who  have  set  up  meetings 
"contrary  to  the  order  and  discipline  of  our  Religious  Society, 

"  as  it  is  giving  countenance  to,  and  acknowledging 

"  those  meetings,  as  though  they  were  the  meetings  of  Friends, 
"  this  meeting  declares  that  such  conduct  is  of  evil  tendency, 

"  and  where  such  instances  occur,  Friends  are  de- 

"  sired  to  extend  brotherly  care  and  labor,  that  the  indi- 
viduals may  be  instructed  and  reclaimed  ;  and  if  those  en- 
"deavors  prove  ineffectual,  Monthly  Meetings  should  testify 
"against  them." 

If,  as  appears  here,  the  members  arc  not  to  be  allowed 
to  attend  the  meetings  of  Separatists,  on  pain  of  being 

*  Discipline  of  Philadelphia  Yearly  Meeting,  pages  70, 71. 


1859.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


287 


considered  disownable,  and  dealt  with  accordingly,  how 
could  the  Monthly  Meetings  be  at  liberty  to  scud  their 
members  to  such  meetings  by  certificate,  recommending 
theni  to  their  "Christian  care  and  oversight?"  Yet 
such  was  now  becoming  a  frequent  practice,  under  the 
influences  of  the  middle  system. 

The  Yearly  Meeting  was  reminded  that  one  of  the 
Monthly  Meetings  in  Philadelphia,  had  laid  the  subject 
before  the  Quarterly  Meeting  as  a  case  of  difficulty,  ask- 
ing its  advice  and  counsel,  but  could  obtain  no  satisfac- 
tion, and  was  now,  to  the  great  grief  of  a  number  of 
Friends,  on  the  point  of  recommending  some  of  its 
members  by  certificate  to  a  Monthly  Meeting  of  Indiana 
Yearly  Meeting,  which  had  joined  the  Separatists.  But 
the  meeting  declined  to  take  any  action  on  the  subject. 

■This  Yearly  Meeting  was  attended  by  Robert  Lind- 
say, a  minister  from  England,  who  was  allowed  to  at- 
tend the  sittings,  and  took  part  in  the  concerns  of  the 
meeting,  although  he  had  previously  been  attending  the 
seceded  Yearly  Meetings  of  Ohio  and  Indiana,  and  the 
Western,  a  new  one  established  from  a  portion  of  the 
latter.  Of  his  attendance  of  these  separate  meetings, 
the  Yearly  Meeting  was  informed.  When  it  was  pro- 
posed to  read  his  certificate,  the  measure  was  opposed  by 
a  number  of  friends;  and  the  meeting  was  distinctly 
told,  that  as  London  Yearly  Meeting,  from  which  he 
came,  had  entirely  identified  itself  with  the  Seceders, 
and  was,  indeed,  the  very  quarter  whence  the  difficulties 
originated,  the  reading  of  his  certificate  by  this  Yearly 
Meeting  would  be  ( practically)  an  act  of  separat  ion  from 
the  Society.  The  temporizing  party,  with  the  clerk  of 
the  Yearly  Meeting,  alleged  that  as  the  Select  Yearly 


288 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN     [(.'HAP.  XV. 


Meeting  had  concluded  not  to  read  his  certificate,  it 
would  not  be  best  to  read  it  here.  But,  as  the  periodical 
paper  of  the  Gurney  party  afterwards  said  in  narrating 
the  circumstance,  the  Yearly  Meeting  of  Ministers  and 
Elders  "  has  no  right  to  interfere  in  the  business  of  the 
Yearly  Meeting;"*  and  consequently  it  was  not  proper 
to  bring  their  action,  or  non-action,  as  a  rule  to  govern 
the  Yearly  Meeting.  It  was  merely  a  subterfuge.  The 
rule  of  Discipline,  however,  on  the  subject  of  certificates 
of  strangers,  being  called  for,  was  read;  and  the  clerk 
declared  that  under  the  circumstances,  he  was  willing 
the  certificate  should  be  read,  alleging  that  he  was  not 
previously  aware  that  the  rule  was  as  it  was  !  In  this 
willingness  he  was  supported  by  several  of  the  "middle" 
class;  yet  the  current  of  opposition  to  the  reading  of  the 
certificate  at  that  time  prevailed,  and  the  measure  was 
not  carried.  But  thus  the  Yearly  Meeting  became  again 
involved,  by  its  half-way  course,  in  a  double  violation 
of  its  own  Discipline,  in  allowing  one  to  sit  as  a  member 
and  minister  who  was  palpably  implicated  in  the  schism, 
and  yet  rejecting  his  certificate;  an  example  plentifully 
followed  in  subsequent  years. 

The  year  1860,  however,  found  many  friends,  both 
in  Philadelphia  and  the  country  districts,  disposed  to 
submit  to  the  influence  of  the  half-way  or  middle  party, 
and  thus  to  allow  those  of  the  Gurney  class  to  have 
their  own  way,  practically,  without  let  or  hindrance, 
except  in  the  comparatively  insignificant  matter  of  the 
yearly  epistolary  correspondence.  Many  were  tired  of 
the  contention.    An  influential  female  minister  (E.  E.) 


*  Friends'  Review,  vol.  xii,  p.  536. 


I860.]  THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY.  289 


had  preached  earnestly  on  the  words  of  the  prophet 
Jeremiah  (ch.  xlvii,  v.  6) :  "O  thou  sword  of  the  Lord, 
how  long  will  it  he  ere  thou  he  quiet  ?  Put  up  thyself 
into  thy  scahbard,  rest,  and  be  still."  Others  saw  no 
hope.  And  especially  was  all  hope  given  up  by  many, 
when  the  dogma  was  freely  received,  launched  as  it  were 
ou  high  authority,  that  "separations  were  no  remedy," 
and  therefore  all,  sound  in  the  faith  or  unsound,  or  even 
opponents  and  innovators,  must,  by  some  means  or  other, 
be  kept  together.  This  keeping  of  all  together  was  to 
be  done  by  compromising  some  of  the  very  fundamental 
features  of  our  compact,  both  in  doctrine  and  discipline. 
For  the  open  and  frequent  avowal  and  promulgation  of 
the  new  doctrines,  especially  through  the  press,  was  now 
connived  at  as  if  it  were  no  breach  upon  the  body;  and 
the  discipline  was  prostrated,  by  allowing  an  equal- 
ization of  schismatical  persons  with  sound  Friends  as 
eligible  for  the  services  and  control  of  the  Society. 

The  Gurney  portion  of  the  members  were  pretty  well 
contented  with  this  system  for  the  present,  for  it  gave 
them  full  scope  to  carry  on  their  measures  without  con- 
tending for  them,  though  without  the  direct  and  open 
sanction  of  the  body.  Certificates  for  foreign  ministers, 
though  rejected  by  the  Yearly  Meeting,  could  be  read 
in  some  one  of  the  meetings  under  the  control  of  the 
party,  and  all  the  novelties  deemed  desirable  could  be 
encouraged  to  the  full,  and  with  entire  impunity.  They 
were  willing,  therefore,  to  wait,  in  patience  and  hope, 
for  a  time  when  they  would  be  able  to  take  control  of 
the  Yearly  Meeting  themselves,  being  satisfied  that  the 
tendency  of  things  was  to  that  result. 

Yet  there  were  those,  in  various  portions  of  Phila- 


290 


THE  SOCIETY  OP  FRIENDS  IN     [CHAP.  XV. 


delphia  Yearly  Meeting,  who  could  not  unite  with  these 
compromising  measures,  seeing  their  entire  inconsistency, 
and  their  inadequacy  to  the  crisis ;  and  feeling  that  the 
precious  truths  of  the  gospel,  committed  to  our  trust  as 
a  people,  were  not  to  be  safely  bartered  away  for  a  false 
peace — a  mere  fallacious  truce  with  those  who  were 
engaged  in  substituting  a  new  system,  fundamentally  at 
variance  with  the  unchangeable  truth  as  held  by  our 
worthy  forefathers.  This  sentiment  indeed  was  cher- 
ished by  a  considerable  portion  of  the  members  in  vari- 
ous parts ;  and  a  few  here  and  there  were  prepared  to 
act  in  accordance  with  the  conviction  ;  though  many 
others,  whose  whole  heart  and  soul  should  have  been 
engaged  to  sustain  the  Lord's  cause,  when  the  day  of 
trial  came  were  found  to  flinch,  and,  under  a  cowardly 
fear,  to  plead  the  necessity  of  submission  to  the  sense  of 
the  body.  Though  "armed  and  carrying  bows,"  they 
"turned  back  in  the  day  of  battle."  Thus  the  numbers 
of  those  who  through  all  were  truly  concerned  to  be 
found  standing  as  it  were  with  their  lives  in  their  hands, 
firm  for  the  ancient  standard,  without  calculating  con- 
sequences by  carnal  reasonings  and  pleas,  were  reduced 
to  so  small  a  remnant  that  they  were  even  fewer  than 
those  who  lapped  water  in  the  army  of  Gideon,  who 
were  selected  as  the  instruments  for  executing  the  counsel 
of  the  Most  High. 

The  interchange  of  membership  by  certificates  to  and 
from  the  seceded  bodies,  at  length  became  so  frequent  a 
practice  among  the  several  Monthly  Meetings,  that  its 
inconsistency  and  danger  engaged  the  solid  attention  of 
Bucks  Quarterly  Meeting ;  many  of  the  members  thereof 
being  convinced  that  it  was  carrying  the  meetings  rap- 


I860.]  THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


291 


idly  into  complication  with  the  schism.  The  result  was 
that  Bucks  Quarter  sent,  up  in  its  report  to  the  Yearly 
Meeting,  in  the  spring  of  1860,  a  request  that  the  sub- 
ject might  claim  its  consideration,  so  that  the  Monthly 
Meetings  might  he  instructed  as  to  what  course  they 
should  pursue. 

The  Northern  District  Monthly  Meeting  in  Phila- 
delphia had  already  sent  up  to  Philadelphia  Quarterly 
Meeting  a  proposition  for  referring  this  important  sub- 
ject to  the  Yearly  Meeting  for  its  consideration,  so  that 
the  Monthly  Meetings  might  be  instructed  how  to  act. 
But  the  Quarterly  Meeting  declined  to  take  any  steps 
in  regard  to  it ;  one  influential  elder  remarking  that 
the  carrying  of  it  to  the  Yearly  Meeting  "would  only 
cause  trouble,"  and  that  "  the  Monthly  Meetings  cer- 
tainly had  a  discretionary  power."  Poor  ground  this  for 
refusing  to  open  the  way  to  a  safe  decision  of  so  vital  a 
matter,  on  which  so  much  diversity  existed. 

In  the  eleventh  month,  1859,  an  Appeal  had  been 
presented  to  Philadelphia  Quarterly  Meeting,  signed 
by  some  of  the  members  of  the  Northern  District 
Monthly  Meeting  in  that  city,  on  the  same  subject. 
The  Quarterly  Meeting  refused  to  hear  this  appeal,  and 
the  appellants  therefore  notified  the  ensuing  Quarter,  in 
the  second  month,  1860,  of  their  intention  to  carry  up 
their  appeal  to  the  Yearly  Meeting.  The  Quarterly 
Meeting  declined  to  recognize  their  right  of  appeal,  or 
to  appoint  respondents  on  its  part,  as  usual,  to  the  Yearly 
Meeting.  Meantime  the  Monthly  Meeting  went  on, 
recommending  several  of  its  members  to  one  or  more 
separate  meetings  within  the  limits  of  Indiana.  This 


292 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FKIENDS  IN     [CHAP.  XV. 


constrained  the  appellants  to  carry  their  appeal  to  the 
Yearly  Meeting  of  1860.    It  was  as  follows  : 

"To  the  Yearly  Meeting. 

"As  members  of  the  Religious  Society  of  Friends,  truly 
"concerned  for  the  support  of  its  Discipline  and  ancient  testi- 
"  monies,  we  feel  constrained  to  appeal  to  the  Yearly  Meeting 
"against  the  course  pursued  by  some  of  the  members  of  the 
"  Monthly  Meeting  of  Friends  of  Philadelphia  for  the  Northern 
"District,  who  have  violated  the  Discipline  of  our  Yearly 
"Meeting,  by  sending  certificates  of  membership  to  meetings 
"of  separatists  ;  thus  'giving  countenance  to,  and  acknowl- 
"' edging  those  meetings  as  though  they  were  meetings  of 
"'Friends;'  [of]  which  our  Yearly  Meeting  declares  'that 
"  '  such  conduct  is  of  evil  tendency,  aud  repugnant  to  the  har- 
"  'mom-  and  well-being  of  our  Religious  Societ}' ;'  and  which 
"we  have  found  to  be  sorrowfully  true  in  every  particular. 
"And  we  apprehend  that  our  rights  of  membership  in  relig- 
"  ious  Societj-  have  been  endangered  by  such  proceedings. 

"And  we  also  feel  constrained  to  appeal  against  Philadel- 
"  phia  Quarterly  Meeting,  for  refusing  to  hear  our  appeal 
"against  those  disorderly  acts,  as  it  still  further  jeopardizes 
"our  rights  of  membership." 

Had  these  three  members  the  right  of  appeal  on  this 
subject,  or  had  they  not  ?  The  subject  was  a  momen- 
tous one,  affecting  the  whole  constitution  of  the  Society. 
The  Discipline  guarantees  to  every  member  "  who  thinks 
himself  aggrieved  by  the  judgment  of  his  Monthly 
Meeting  in  his  case,"  the  right  of  appeal.  This  wording 
of  the  rule — "in  his  case" — which  was  probably  in- 
tended rather  as  an  explanation  than  as  a  limitation, — 
was  taken  advantage  of,  against  the  appellants,  by  the 
allegation  that  no  judgment  had  been  issued  by  the 
Monthly  Meeting  against  them  individually,  that  in 


I860.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  OENTT R Y. 


293 


short  they  had  had  no  "case"  pending  in  the  Monthly 
Meeting — not  having  been  dealt  with  at  all  as  delin- 
qnents,  or  offenders  against  the  Discipline — that  the 
right  of  appeal  was  here  confined  to  those  who  had  been 
testified  against  by  their  Monthly  Meeting — that  the 
present  matter  was  a  mere  difference  of  sentiment  re- 
specting the  action  of  the  Monthly  Meeting,  and  there- 
fore that  it  was  not  a  proper  subject  for  an  appeal. 

This,  however,  was  an  unworthy  quibble,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  setting  the  matter  easily  aside  without  a  hearing. 
The  subject  of  the  appeal  was  well  known  to  be  of  a 
highly  important  character,  and  it  was  also  known  that 
appeals  more  or  less  similar  in  circumstances  had  on 
various  occasions  in  former  years  been  presented  and 
entertained,  for  the  cause  of  justice,  by  the  superior 
meetings,  especially  during  the  troubles  with  the  disci- 
ples of  Elias  Hicks.*  If  not  as  an  Appeal,  yet  at  least 
as  a  Remonstrance  against  a  supposed  great  wrong,  en- 
dangering, in  their  apprehension,  the  rights  of  member- 
ship of  those  presenting  it,  and  also  of  many  others,  as 
well  as  the  safety  of  the  Society,  and  its  proper  identity, 
it  ought  surely  to  have  been  heard,  both  by  the  Quarterly, 
and,  if  needed,  by  the  Yearly  Meeting. 

The  Yearly  Meeting  of  18G0  came  in  due  course,  on 
the  16th  of  the  fourth  month.  After  it  was  opened  for 
business  on  Second-day  morning,  the  clerk  mentioned 
that  he  found  on  the  table  a  paper  endorsed,  "Appeal 
to  Philadelphia  Yearly  Meeting;"  but  that  none  of  the 
reports  from  the  Quarters  alluded  to  any  appeal.  He 
inquired  what  disposal  should  be  made  of  it.  After 


*  See  Vol.  I,  p.  114. 


294 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN     [CHAP.  XV. 


some  time,  he  rose  again,  and  added  that,  on  looking 
into  the  paper,  it  appeared  to  be  signed  by  three  per- 
sons, and  to  be  an  appeal  against  their  Monthly  Meet- 
ing's action  in  sending  certificates  to  Monthly  Meetings 
of  other  Yearly  Meetings;  and,  as  this  subject  would 
come  up  from  the  minutes  of  Bucks  Quarter,  he  in- 
quired whether  it  would  not  be  better  to  postpone  the 
consideration  of  it  till  that  time.  To  this  the  appellants 
consented,  in  the  full  confidence  that  they  would  then 
be  heard. 

On  Fourth-day  afternoon,  the  subject  as  brought  up 
by  Bucks  Quarterly  Meeting  came  under  consideration. 
After  a  great  deal  had  been  said  for  and  against  the 
practice  in  question,  some  of  it  savory  and  pertinent, 
and  much  of  it  quite  the  contrary,  and  not  needful  to  be 
repeated  here ;  and  many  of  those  who  had  formerly 
been  relied  upon  as  opposed  to  this  inconsistency  had 
given  way,  under  the  plea  that  way  did  not  open  to  do 
anything,  and  therefore  it  was  best  to  submit,  the  clerk 
made  a  minute,  stating  in  substance  that  the  subject  had 
been  "deliberately  considered,  and  way  did  not  open  to 
take  any  step ;  but  that  the  Monthly  Meetings  were  di- 
rected to  keep  to  our  Discipline  in  relation  to  that  sub- 
ject." One  of  those  who  had  been  really  valiant  for  the 
truth,  but,  under  the  paralyzing  influence  of  an  attach- 
ment to  some  of  the  half-way  leaders,  had  previously 
stated  his  opinion  that  way  did  not  open  to  do  anything, 
immediately  rose  and  said  that  he  thought  the  latter 
part  of  the  minute  (respecting  keeping  to  the  Discipline) 
had  better  be  stricken  out.  Solomon  Lukens,  an  elder, 
who  sat  near  the  table,  turned  round  and  said,  "  I  hope 
not !"    But  the  clerk,  without  waiting  for  further  ex- 


I860.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


295 


pression,  immediately  ran  his  pen  through  that  part  of 
the  minute,  remarking,  "It  don't  change  the  Discipline;" 
apparently  regardless  of  the  manifest  fact,  that  though 
it  did  not  change  the  Discipline,  yet  it  changed  the  po- 
sition of  the  Yearly  Meeting  in  relation  to  the  Disci- 
pline, as  it  showed  that  the  meeting  was  afraid  to  recom- 
mend a  strict  compliance  therewith,  which  would  have 

a  ssarily  resulted  in  the  disownment  of  all  who  should 

persist  in  adhering  to  the  apostatizing  course  which  was 
the  cause  of  all  this  trouble. 

At  the  next  sitting,  one  of  the  appellants  called  the 
attention  of  the  meeting  to  the  appeal,  reminding  Friends 
that  the  understanding  was,  that  it  was  to  be  attended 
to  when  the  subject  from  Bucks  Quarter  was  considered  ; 
which  had  now  been  done,  and  the  meeting  appeared  to 
be  drawing  towards  its  closing  business.  The  clerk  now 
attempted  to  check  any  further  opening  of  the  case ; 
saying  that  "  he  had  expected  it  was  understood  that 
this  matter  was  settled  when  the  report  from  Bucks 
Quarter  was  read  and  disposed  of,  as  the  subject  in  each 
was  similar."  This  was  exceedingly  unjust,  as  the  appel- 
lants had  confided  in  his  own  proposition  to  hear  their 
appeal  at  that  time,  and  they  had  had  no  full  and  fair 
opportunity  of  opening  and  explaining  the  nature  and 
extent  of  their  grievance,  as  they  would  have  had  before 
a  committee  appointed  for  the  purpose  of  hearing  their 
appeal.  The  clerk,  moreover,  as  a  member  of  the 
Quarter  appealed  against,  had  no  right  to  a  voice  in  the 
question,  according  to  our  Discipline.  But  several  other 
members  of  the  same  Quarterly  Meeting  now  assumed 
to  object  to  any  reopening  of  the  subject,  notwithstand- 
ing this  plain  previous  understanding.    One  influential 


296 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN     [CHAP.  XV. 


member  of  Philadelphia  Quarterly  Meeting  stated  that 
he  had  seen  the  appeal  addressed  to  that  Quarter,  and 
that  it  was  not  an  appeal,  but  a  remonstrance  against 
sending  certificates  to  certain  meetings.  Another  mem- 
ber of  the  same  Quarter  said,  he  likewise  had  seen  the 
appeal,  and  he  designated  it  as  wrong,  or  disorderly,  for 
persons  to  come  before  the  Yearly  Meeting  in  this  w  ay  ! 
Another  member  of  it  said,  there  ought  to  have  been  a 
committee  appointed  early  in  the  Yearly  Meeting,  to 
examine  the  paper,  and  then  they  should  have  reported 
that  it  was  a  wrong  thing,  etc.  Indeed,  it  seemed  as  if 
the  members  of  the  very  Quarterly  Meeting  against 
which  the  appeal  was  presented,  were  the  main  opponents 
now  to  its  being  heard,  in  direct  contravention  of  the 
Discipline.  They  were,  however,  followed  by  members 
from  other  Quarters,  opposing  any  hearing  of  the  appeal, 
and  censuring  the  appellants  for  coming  thus  before  the 
Yearly  Meeting.  Some  then  proposed  that  the  meeting 
should  go  on  with  other  business — which  was  done — 
and  thus  the  appeal  was  rejected  without  being  heard,  in 
violation  of  the  express  understanding  given  in  the 
early  part  of  the  meeting !  Friends  who  deeply  felt 
and  mourned  over  these  departures,  now  lost  all  hope 
of  Philadelphia  Yearly  Meeting  doing  anything  effec- 
tive to  stay  the  progi'ess  of  the  secession  from  the  true 
principles  of  the  Society.  They  had  done  what  they 
could  to  avert  the  downward  course,  but  all  their  efforts 
had  been  rejected,  and  appeared  now  to  be  of  no  avail. 

These  saw  with  distress,  that  not  only  was  Philadel- 
phia Yearly  Meeting  entirely  failing  to  withstand  the 
advances  of  the  schism  in  any  practical  and  effective 
way,  but  that  it  was  officially  permitting  such  a  series  of 


I860.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


207 


measures  in  the  subordinate  meetings  as  must  eventuate 
in  a  complete  amalgamation  with  those  who  had  openly 
joined  the  secession  in  other  places.  It  had  now  refused 
to  interfere  with  this  amalgamation,  had  stricken  out 
from  its  minute  even  a  recommendation  to  keep  to  the 
Discipline,  and  was,  in  its  own  constant  practice,  setting 
an  example  of  placing  the  avowed,  and  active,  and  in- 
fluential Gurneyites  on  an  equality  with  any  other  mem- 
bers,* when  they  ought  to  have  had  disciplinary  mea- 
sures extended  to  them,  to  convince  them  of  their  errors, 
and  if  not  reclaimed,  to  have  been  disowned.  They 
saw,  too,  that  for  themselves  as  individuals,  and  for 
their  families,  there  was  no  safety  from  being  swallowed 
up  in  this  vortex,  but  in  firmly  and  openly  withstanding 
it;  although  a  faithful  stand  against  it  might  involve 
the  very  painful  necessity  of  calling  in  question  the  con- 
tinued authority  in  the  truth,  of  the  Yearly  Meeting 
itself,  and  clearing  themselves  from  its  now  lapsed  and 
apparently  hopeless  position.  It  appeared  to  them  that 
the  time  had  fully  come,  for  them  to  flee  each  one  for  his 
life;  or,  in  accordance  with  the  Avords  of  John  Justice, 
a  minister  from  Bucks  County,  spoken  prophetically  in 
the  Northern  District  Meeting  in  the  year  183<S,  two 
weeks  before  his  decease;  when,  testifying  of  his  sense 
of  the  coming  of  something  "even  more  awful  than 
anything  we  have  ever  yet  had  to  pass  through,"  he 
predicted  that  "  those  who  are  preserved  in  this  time,  it 
will  be  as  it  were  upon  the  broken  pieces  of  the  ship." f 
Xot  that  all  who  at  that  time  saw  and  mourned  over 
the  lapsed  condition  of  Philadelphia  Yearly  Meeting 


*  Sec  page  282. 

t  The  Friend,  1845,  page  10G  ;  and  .1.  E.  Maule's  Serious  Review,  page  0. 

vol.  ii. — 26 


298 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN     [CHAP.  XV. 


were  alike  prepared  to  act  firmly  and  openly,  when  the 
time  came  for  an  individual  standing  as  in  "the  valley 
of  decision."  This  was  indeed  found  now  to  be  a  low 
place — too  low  for  the  pride  of  man  to  find  satisfaction 
in  it.  Many  were  soaring  above  it,  and  saying  to  them- 
selves or  others,  that  when  something  might  occur,  in 
which  they  would  be  joined  by  considerable  numbers, 
and  by  such  and  such  eminent  members,  so  as  to  make 
a  "respectable"  body  in  their  estimation,  then  they 
would  be  willing  to  unite  in  opposing  Gurneyism. 
Others  earnestly  cried  out  that  "  separations  were  no 
remedy,"  and  "  not  to  be  resorted  to  under  any  circum- 
stances ;"  forgetting,  or  ignoring  the  fact,  that  the  schism 
was  already  upon  them,  and  the  Yearly  Meeting  was 
falling  into  it!  Still  others,  like  a  portion  of  Gideon's 
host,  were  "fearful  and  afraid,"  and  were  therefore  not 
prepared  for  this  warfare  with  "  principalities  and  pow- 
ers."* 

Many  Friends  left  the  city  for  their  homes  on  the 
same  day  that  the  meeting  closed.    A  few  who  were 

*  Some  who  then  made  one  plea  or  another  for  remaining  "in  the  body," 
lapsing  as  it  was,  found,  after  awhile,  the  entangled  state  they  were  in,  with  all 
the  innovations  pressing  upon  them,  yet  with  no  power  now  to  withstand  them  ; 
and  began  to  charge  those  who  had  taken  a  firm  stand  in  the  day  of  decision, 
with  having  increased  their  inability  to  oppose  the  inroads  of  Gurneyism,  by 
leaving  them  to  themselves,  instead  of  staying  to  help  them.  These  would  now 
acknowledge  that  they  wanted  their  aid.  But  they  seemed  to  forget  the  re- 
peated warnings  that  had  been  given  them  by  those  Friends  while  with  them, 
that  the  departure  was  a  fundamental  one ;  and  that  they  themselves  had  quietly 
looked  on  and  allowed  the  testimony  of  such  to  be  treated  with  scorn  and  re- 
proach, and  their  efforts  to  sustain  the  cause  frowned  down.  Some  of  these  now 
attempting  to  excuse  their  remaining  with  the  lapsed  body,  would  allege  that 
they  continued  to  testify  against  the  palpable  innovations,  and  therefore  con- 
sidered themselves  clear  of  the  responsibility.  Yet  they  still  held  their  positions 
as  active  members  of  the  meetings  which  allowed  the  inroads  to  go  on  without 
effectually  checking  them;  and  the  old  saying,  quoted  by  Robert  Barclay,  was 
applicable  to  them — "  Quod  f aril  per  alium,facil  per  se." 


I860.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


299 


communing  together  early  the  next  day  on  the  sorrow- 
ful condition  of  the  church,  and  the  danger,  which 
threatened  all  the  members,  of  being  inextricably  en- 
tangled in  the  secession,  believed  it  right  to  call  together 
such  as  could  be  found  still  in  the  city,  who  were  op- 
posed to  the  course  taken  by  the  Yearly  Meeting,  invit- 
ing them  to  meet  at  the  house  of  a  friend  at  a  later  hour 
in  the  morning.  Twenty-two  Friends  accordingly  as- 
sembled, who  sat  together  in  silent  waiting  on  the  Won- 
derful Counsellor,  for  his  direction  and  help.  A  solemn 
covering  of  good  was  sensibly  felt  over  this  little  assem- 
bly, with  a  ray  of  hope  for  safety  to  those  who,  in  sim- 
ple reliance  on  the  Master's  guidance  and  protection, 
would  be  willing  to  follow  whithersoever  his  divine 
wisdom  should  lead  them,  even  though  it  might  be 
through  the  deeps,  as  escaping  on  boards  and  broken 
pieces  from  the  stranded  vessel.  A  sweet  feeling  of 
sympathy  and  unity  prevailed ;  but  as  their  numbers 
were  felt  to  be  small,  it  was  thought  best,  before  coming 
to  any  conclusion  as  to  further  proceedings  in  so  weighty 
a  matter,  to  invite  Friends  more  generally  throughout 
the  Yearly  Meeting,  who  might  feel  prepared  for  it,  to 
meet  together  in  Conference,  at  Fallsington,  in  Bucks 
County,  Pennsylvania,  on  the  thirty-first  day  of  the 
fifth  month,  after  the  close  of  Bucks  Quarterly  Meeting. 

Notices  were  accordingly  circulated  of  the  proposed 
Conference,  and  a  considerable  number  of  Friends  at- 
tended at  the  time  and  place  appointed.  It  was  sup- 
posed that  about  one  hundred,  of  both  sexes,  from  vari- 
ous portions  of  the  Yearly  Meeting,  were  in  attendance, 
who  sat  together  in  solemn  waiting  on  the  Lord,  that 
he  might  condescend  to  show  them  a  right  way  for 


300 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN     [CHAP.  XV. 


themselves  and  their  little  ones,  acceptable  in  his  holy 
sight.  It  was  felt  to  be  a  season  of  divine  favor,  and 
they  were  encouraged  to  stand  firm  and  vigilant  against 
the  wiles  of  that  insidious  spirit  which  was  laying  waste 
the  precious  testimonies  intrusted  to  our  religions  Society 
to  uphold,  for  the  maintenance  of  the  purity  of  the 
Christian  religion.  It  was  concluded  to  meet  again  at 
the  same  place  in  the  ensuing  ninth  month. 

Steps  were  taken  one  by  one,  as  the  stepping-stones 
could  be  clearly  discerned.  At  the  next  Conference 
meeting  it  was  concluded  to  appoint  a  clerk,  and  to  keep 
records  of  their  proceedings.  This  measure  startled  a 
few,  who  became  alarmed  on  looking  ahead,  and  con- 
templating the  smallness  of  their  numbers  compared 
with  those  still  adhering  to  the  Yearly  Meeting;  and 
some  of  these  now  concluded  that  it  would  be  safest  for 
them  to  "walk  no  more  with"  this  little  company.  So 
the  few  became  for  awhile  fewer.  But  they  were  sus- 
tained in  the  faith  that  their  path  was  cast  up  for  them, 
not  of  themselves,  but  by  Him  whose  ways  are  higher 
than  our  ways,  and  whose  counsels  are  inscrutable,  but 
who  will  unfailingly  sustain  his  children,  be  they  few 
or  many,  who  hold  out  to  the  end  in  faithful  obedience, 
having  none  in  heaven  but  him,  nor  in  all  the  earth  in 
comparison  of  him. 

It  was  now  agreed  to  appoint  a  committee  to  draw 
up,  during  the  interim,  an  essay  of  an  epistle  to  the 
members  of  Philadelphia  Yearly  Meeting,  explanatory 
of  the  causes  of  our  present  position,  and  inviting  the 
honest-hearted  to  unite  in  measures  for  the  sustaining 
of  a  body  of  Friends  here  on  the  ancient  foundation — 
this  essay  to  be  presented  for  consideration  at  the  next 


I860.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


301 


Conference  meeting,  which  was  agreed  to  be  held  at 
Fallsington,  in  the  ensuing  twelfth  month. 

Here,  then,  was  a  position  taken  in  direct  opposition 
to  the  Yearly  Meeting.  But  it  was  a  position  in  which 
a  deeply  concerned  and  tribulated  remnant  felt  called 
upon  to  stand,  in  a  sincere  endeavor  to  sustain  the 
ancient  standard,  which  the  Yearly  Meeting  was  allow- 
ing to  fall  to  the  ground.  In  doing  this  they  were 
taking  no  new  position,  as  the  Yearly  Meeting  was 
tacitly  yet  obviously  falling  into  the  ranks  of  schism, 
and  their  concern  was  to  remain  firm  to  the  original 
ground  and  compact  of  the  Society.  That  which  may 
be  looked  upon  as  a  separation  from  a  Yearly  Meeting 
which  has  through  unfaithfulness  lost  its  rightful  posi- 
tion and  authority  as  a  living  Church,  is  not  a  separation 
from  the  true  Society,  even  though  it  may  involve  a 
disown ment  of  the  great  majority  of  the  professing 
members.  Indeed  it  may  be  a  means  of  preservation 
within  the  true  Society.  They  are  the  true  Society  who 
stand  by  its  vital  principles  and  practice.  Yet  a  sepa- 
ration is  an  extreme  measure,  and  can  only  be  justified 
when  full  evidence  is  shown  of  its  necessity  for  the  great 
duty  of  sustaining,  in  their  purity  and  vitality,  the  pre- 
cious principles  of  Christianity  with  which  the  people 
called  Quakers  were  intrusted,  and  of  preserving  the 
members  from  otherwise  inevitable  entanglement  in 
fundamental  error  of  faith  or  practice.  It  must,  in  short, 
be  founded  on  a  fundamental  emergency. 

Was  this  the  emergency  to  which  faithful  Friends 
were  now  brought,  within  the  Yearly  Meeting  of  Phila- 
delphia, a  Yearly  Meeting  which  had  stood  so  firmly 
against  the  errors  of  Elias  Hicks  and  his  followers,  and, 


302 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN      [CHAP.  XV. 


for  a  time,  against  the  more  recent  and  opposite  attacks 
upon  its  ancient  faith  by  the  advocates  of  the  Gurney 
system  ?  Deplorable  as  such  a  conclusion  must  be,  and 
incredible  to  many,  it  has  always  appeared  to  the  writer, 
that  here  was  such  an  emergency.  The  fundamental 
principles  distinguishing  our  ancient  faith,  and  the  true 
life  of  the  body,  were  at  stake  in  this  matter.  The 
Yearly  Meeting,  after  having  repeatedly  warned  that  of 
London  of  the  unsound  nature  and  disintegrating:  ten- 
dency  of  the  changes  in  doctrine  which  it  was  permitting 
to  be  sent  forth  into  the  Society  and  the  world  at  large 
— after  having  cherished  and  nourished,  if  not  in  some 
degree  commenced,  the  stand  taken  in  New  England  and 
other  places  against  the  defection — after  having  publicly 
testified  to  the  fundamental  nature  of  this  stand,  and 
its  conviction  that  it  was  taken  in  New  England  for  the 
defence  of  the  truths  always  professed  by  faithful  Friends 
— after  all  this,  it  gaye  way  to  the  popular  clamor  for  a 
hollow  peace  even  at  the  sacrifice  of  principle. 

But  did  it  sacrifice  principle?  Certainly  not,  as  a 
body,  by  any  official  and  open  avowal  of  unsound  doc- 
trines ;  neither  perhaps  did  the  Hicksian  meetings  in 
1828.  But,  as  it  was  in  their  case,  actions  speak  a  more 
potent  language  than  words.  The  Hicksites  upheld 
those  who  did  avow  unsound  doctrines.  Philadelphia 
Yearly  Meeting  retained  in  service  members  occupying 
influential  positions,  who  were  thoroughly  and  openly 
identified  with  the  Gurney  schism  in  doctrine  and  in 
practice.  It  rejected  all  the  claims  of  its  New  England 
brethren  and  others,  who  were  standing  and  suffering 
for  the  ancient  faith,  to  be  recognized  by  it  as  the  true 
and  legitimate  Society  ;  and  saw  them  almost  struggling 


I860.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


303 


for  life  under  the  discouragements  brought  upon  them 
by  its  neglect,  without  reaching  forth  a  hand  to  help 
them  in  their  distressed,  persecuted,  and  weak  condition. 
On  the  other  hand,  it  had  practically  encouraged  those 
engaged  in  the  defection,  by  allowing  complete  amalga- 
mation of  membership  with  such  as  had  openly  and 
bodily  lapsed  into  the  schism;  thus  introducing  floods 
of  unsoundness  within  its  own  borders,  as  well  as  send- 
ing its  own  members  into  the  clangers  inseparable  from 
fellowship  with  schismatic  meetings.  It  had  entirely 
and  repeatedly,  and  in  the  most  pointed  manner,  de- 
clined to  interfere  to  stop  these  apostatizing  measures; 
and  compromising  and  conniving  at  them  had  become 
the  rule  of  action  with  those  who  controlled  its  proceed- 
ings. And  in  order  to  maintain  its  temporizing  position, 
it  was  constantly  violating  its  own  Discipline  in  relation 
to  Separatists;  and  finally,  it  had  refused  to  listen  to  the 
earnest  appeal  of  some  of  its  members  for  a  rectification 
of  these  abuses;  so  that  the  friends  of  right  order  and 
ancient  principles  were  left  without  hope  of  any  favor- 
able action  to  remedy  the  lapsing  condition  of  the  body. 
They  simply  stood  still  in  their  testimony  for  the  ancient 
compact,  while  the  Yearly  Meeting  was  drifting  into 
confusion  and  entanglement  with  schism. 

The  next  meeting  for  Conference  was  a  time  of  en- 
couragement to  Friends  to  hold  on  their  way,  trusting 
in  the  care  of  the  Shepherd  of  Israel,  when  all  outward 
helps  and  reliances  seemed  to  have  failed. 

The  committee  appointed  at  the  previous  meeting 
produced  an  essay  of  an  "Epistle  to  the  Members  of  the 
Yearly  Meeting,"  showing  the  causes  of  our  extraordi- 
nary position  ;  which  was  read  and  adopted,  and  ordered 


304 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN      [CHAP.  XV. 


to  be  printed  for  general  circulation  among  the  members 
of  the  Yearly  Meeting. 

This  document,  containing  important  information  of- 
ficially stated,  with  serious  charges  of  delinquency 
against  Philadelphia  Yearly  Meeting,  was  extensively 
circulated  in  a  printed  form,  but  never  elicited  any 
reply,  either  from  Philadelphia  Yearly  Meeting,  the 
Meeting  for  Sufferings,  or  individual  members.  It  ap- 
pears to  have  been  thought  that  the  safest  plan  would 
be  to  take  no  notice  of  it.  The  Yearly  Meeting  issued 
in  1861  a  long  epistle  to  its  members,  chiefly  reminding 
them  of  the  value  of  various  testimonies  always  held  by 
the  Society^such  as  respected  silent  worship,  ministry, 
plainness  of  dress  and  language,  inward  retirement  of 
mind,  love  and  gentleness,  etc.,  and  against  unsettle- 
ment  and  reasoning  on  religious  truths,  pride,  and 
worldly-mindedncss,  outward  rites  and  ceremonies,  po- 
litical and  party  spirit,  etc. — with  sentiments  true  and 
salutary  in  themselves,  but  which  had  been  many  times 
over  expressed  in  the  same  terms  by  the  same  parties. 
But  it  is  observable  that  in  that  long  Epistle  there  was 
no  word  of  warning  against  the  series  of  unsound  doc- 
trines that  were  producing  such  wide  devastation — the 
great  snare  by  which  the  enemy,  in  this  particular  pe- 
riod, was  turning  aside  whole  multitudes  from  the  unity 
of  the  faith  once  delivered  to  our  forefathers.  Nor 
was  there  the  slightest  attempt  to  clear  themselves  from 
those  vcrv  serious  charges  which  had  been  publicly  and 
conscientiously  brought  against  their  course,  or  even  to 
allude  to  them  or  to  the  existence  of  the  body  which 
brought  them  ;  thus  evincing  that  they  were  not  able  to 


1861.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


305 


meet  those  charges,  or  to  defend  the  course  they  were 
pursuing. 

The  adjourned  Conference  Meeting  at  Fallsington,  in 
the  fifth  month,  1861,  which  now  assumed  the  appella- 
tion of  a  "  General  Meeting  of  Friends  for  Pennsyl- 
vania, New  Jersey,  Delaware,  etc.,"  was  engaged  in  an 
earnest  travail  and  concern  for  the  faithful  walking  of 
its  members,  in  accordance  with  our  high  profession  ; 
and  Mas  favored  with  renewed  evidence  that  the  Great 
Head  of  the  church  condescended  to  own  its  deliber- 
ations; and  especially  during  the  last  sitting  was  the 
canopy  of  His  love  spread  over  the  assembly,  to  the 
contriting  of  many  hearts  before  Him.  Subsequently  it 
was  agreed  to  hold  the  meetings  quarterly. 

At  the  ensuing  General  Meeting  in  the  ninth  month, 
a  concern  arose  and  spread  weightily  over  the  meeting, 
in  regard  to  the  true  support  of  the  discipline  in  the 
scattered  local  condition  of  its  members ;  and  resulted 
in  the  preparation  and  adoption  of  the  following  minute, 
which  was  directed  to  be  forwarded  to  each  of  the  Yearly 
Meetings  of  Friends  owned  by  it,  viz.: 

"  This  meeting  issued  last  year  an  Epistle  to  our  fellow- 
"  members,  showing  that  the  Yearly  Meeting  of  Philadelphia, 
"as  controlled  of  late  years,  has  not  only  connived  at,  but 
"practically  promoted,  the  great  departure  from  the  ancient 
"ground  of  our  profession,  connected  with  the  unsound  doc- 
"trines  of  Joseph  John  Gurney  and  his  adherents.  Since 
"  that  time,  not  only  has  that  Yearly  Meeting  persisted  in 
"its  course,  as  therein  represented  by  us,  but  the  Quarterly 
"and  Monthly  Meetings  subordinate  thereto  have  identified 
"themselves  with  it  by  representation  and  otherwise;  thus 
"partaking  of  the  responsibility  of  identification  with  schism; 
"  so  that  we  can  no  longer  conscientiously  own  them,  as 
"meetings  of  the  religious  Society  of  Friends. 


306 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN     [CHAP.  XV. 


"  Under  these  circumstances,  and  until  Monthly  and  Quar- 
terly Meeting's  can  he  again  held  in  a  measure  of  the  life 
"  and  power  of  Truth,  which  is  the  only  authority  for  meet- 
ings of  discipline,  we  helieve  it  will  he  right  to  advise 
"  Friends  intending  removal,  to  make  application  to  this 
"  meeting  for  its  certificate  ;  so  that  after  proper  inquiry  has 
"heen  made,  and  no  obstruction  appearing,  they  may  he 
"  rightly  joined  in  memhership  with  such  meetings  as  may  he 
"held  on  the  ancient  foundation,  and  clear  of  the  defection 
"which  so  sorrowfully  prevails.  And  it  is  our  request,  that 
"  all  certificates  for  Friends  coming  to  reside  within  our  limits 
"be  presented  to  this  meeting. 

"It  is  also  directed  that  Friends  intending  marriage  apply 
"to  this  meeting  for  its  advice  and  assistance  in  the  accom- 
"  plishment  thereof;  that  all  things  may  he  done  therein,  in 
"  the  comely  order  which  Friends  were  led  into  in  the  begin- 
"  ning,  and  to  the  honor  of  Truth. 

"It  is  also  our  concern,  that  Friends  who  may  feel  their 
"  minds  drawn,  in  the  love  of  the  Gospel,  to  visit  other  por- 
"  tions  of  the  Lord's  heritage,  should  lay  such  concern  before 
"  this  meeting,  and  receive  its  certificate  of  unity,  before  en- 
gaging therein.  And  Friends  coming  amongst  us  in  like 
"  manner,  from  meetings  beyond  our  limits,  are  encouraged 
"to  lay  their  certificates  before  this  meeting,  as  opportunity 
"  offers. 

"And,  for  the  present,  all  cases  requiring  disciplinary  at- 
"  tention  should  be  laid  before  this  meeting,  for  its  judgment 
"  and  care." 

Subsequent  to  this,  the  establishment  of  several  small 
meetings  for  divine  worship  in  different  places  en- 
gaged the  attention  of  successive  General  Meetings ; 
which  series  of  needful  measures  for  the  preservation  of 
the  order  and  integrity  of  the  body,  it  is  not  necessary 
here  to  detail.  On  this  subject,  a  minute  adopted  by 
the  meeting  held  in  the  eighth  month,  1862,  holds  the 
following  language  : 


1863.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTUUY. 


307 


"An  exercise  spread  over  this  meeting,  that  the  small  com- 
"panies  who  meet  together  may  be  concerned  faithfully  to 
"  labor  for  the  arising  of  life  in  their  meetings,  that  so  they 
"may  indeed  realize  the  declaration  of  the  blessed  Master, 
"  '  AYhere  two  or  three  are  gathered  together  in  my  name, 
"  '  there  am  I  in  the  midst  of  them.'  

....  "A  travail  was  also  felt  on  account  of  our  dear 
"brethren  and  sisters,  who  have  not  yet  given  up  to  meet  to- 
gether in  their  respective  neighborhoods  for  the  purpose  of 
"  waiting  upon  the  Lord  for  a  renewal  of  their  strength  ;  with 
"desires  that  such  may  remember  the  language  of  David,  'I 
"  '  will  not  offer  a  sacrifice  to  the  Lord,  of  that  which  costs 
"  'me  nothing.'  And  we  believe  that  Friends  who  thus  give 
"up  will  experience  that  our  Heavenly  Father  is  a  rich  re- 
"  warder  of  those  who  diligently  seek  him."* 

In  the  ninth  month,  1863,  the  General  Meeting  issued 
regulations  for  the  accomplishment  of  marriages,  in 
order  that  the  requisitions  of  the  Discipline,  in  that 
important  matter,  might  be  complied  with,  as  nearly  as 
possible,  in  our  scattered  condition  ;  and  at  this  time, 
likewise,  a  meeting  of  ministers  and  elders  was  directed 
to  be  held  once  in  three  months. 

The  re-establishment  of  Monthly  Meetings  for  Dis- 
cipline engaged  at  various  times  the  attention  of  the 
General  Meetings ;  Friends  desiring  to  move  in  so  im- 

*  In  accordance  with  the  concern  of  the  General  Meeting,  a  meeting  for  wor- 
ship had  been  held  for  some  time  in  Friends'  Meeting-house  at  Fallsington,  and 
one  at  Bristol ;  and  afterwards  one  was  reported  to  the  General  Meeting  as  hav- 
ing been  opened  in  Philadelphia,  twelfth  month  22d,  in  a  house  rented  in  Coates 
Street,  after  having  been  previously  held  for  awhile  in  the  dwelling  of  one  of 
the  members — one  at  Horsham,  in  Friends'  meeting-house,  fourth  month  1st, 
18G2— one  at  Germantown,  in  a  Friend's  house,  eighth  month  21st,  18G2 — one  in 
Fallowfield,  I'a.,  sixth  month  7th,  18G3,  in  a  room  granted  for  that  use  by  a 
Friend;  having  been  previously  held  in  bis  own  dwelling  near  Ercildoun.  A 
meeting  also  was  held  at  London  Britain,  in  a  Friend's  house,  which  was  after- 
wards moved,  sixth  month  10th,  I860,  to  the  basement  of  a  schoolhouse  hired 
near  Striekersville.  Various  other  meetings  were  afterwards  added,  as  required 
in  different  places,  including  one  at  Elklands,  in  Sullivan  County,  I'a. 


308 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN     [dlAP.  XV. 


portant  a  concern  under  the  pointings  of  best  wisdom, 
and  a  sense  of  the  right  time  having  come  for  it.  For 
awhile,  the  members  were  encouraged  to  meet  together 
once  a  month,  according  to  their  convenience  of  distance 
from  certain  central  points,  but  without  engaging  in  any 
further  disciplinary  business  than  the  reading  and  con- 
sideration of  the  Queries  and  Advices;  and  even  this 
was  found  to  be  of  a  salutary  tendency,  promotive  of 
true  love  and  unity,  and  reanimating  to  the  solitary 
ones  in  their  tribulated  walk.  But  it  was  still  felt  that 
something  further  was  needed  in  the  same  direction,  that 
the  Church  might  be  "  builded  as  a  city  that  is  compact 
together." 

A  few  here  and  there  objected  to  the  re-establishment 
of  Monthly  Meetings,  fearing  we  were  becoming  too 
formal,  and  depending  too  much  on  disciplinary  arrange- 
ments; and  some  declined,  on  a  similar  ground,  to  have 
their  names  and  their  children's  names  entered  in  the 
list  of  members,  alleging  that  they  wished  their  names 
entered  in  the  ''Lamb's  book  of  life,"  and  hinting  as  if 
they  thought  the  two  were  incompatible.  These  even- 
tually lost  their  standing  in  the  Truth  and  wandered 
away;  but  the  church  was  preserved  from  being  shaken 
by  their  departure. 

At  length,  in  the  ninth  month,  1866,  a  Committee, 
having  in  charge  the  subject  of  the  right  holding  of  the 
subordinate  meetings,  made  a  report  of  their  sense,  in 
regard  to  holding  Monthly  Meetings  for  Discipline; 
which  was  united  with  by  the  General  Meeting,  and  is 
as  follows : 

"To  the  General  Meeting. 
"The  Committee  appointed  to  consider  the  subject  of  the 


1866,] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTUIiY. 


309 


"right  holding  of  our  religious  meetings,  and  what  additional 
"steps  it  might  be  right  to  take  to  promote  the  due  support 
"of  the  discipline,  report :  That  they  have  all  met,  and  were 
"enabled  solidly  to  deliberate  on  the  subject  of  their  appoint- 
"  ment.  The  right  sustaining  of  true  gospel  order  among  the 
"small  remnants  of  the  Society  in  these  parts,  was  felt  to  be 
"a  subject  of  great  weight  and  importance,  early  after  the 
"  first  holding  of  the  Conferences  which  resulted  in  the  estab- 
"  lishment  of  our  General  Meeting  ;  and  in  order  that  no  loss 
"  might  be  sustained  in  that  respect  in  our  weak  and  scattered 
"  situation,  it  was  concluded  that  the  General  Meeting  should 
"  exercise  the  disciplinary  functions  of  Monthly  and  Quarterly 
"Meetings,  until  such  time  as  Friends  might  be  enabled 
"again  to  hold  Monthly  Meetings  for  discipline  to  the  honor 
"of  truth. 

"We  have  sensibly  felt,  that  'except  the  Lord  build  the 
"house,  they  labor  in  vain  that  build  it  ;  except  the  Lord 
"keep  the  city,  the  watchman  waketh  but  in  vain;'  and 
"surely,  vain  will  be  all  attempts  made  in  our  own  strength 
"or  wisdom,  to  sustain  his  cause.  But  we  believe  the  time 
"  has  come  when  it  would  be  right  to  endeavor  to  promote  the 
"more  efficient  exercise  of  the  discipline,  and  likewise  to 
"relieve  the  General  Meeting  from  accumulating  business,  by 
"  the  holding  of  two  Monthly  Meetings  for  discipline  within 
"our  limits,  in  accordance  with  the  provisions  of  our  Disci- 
"pline  ;  to  be  held  jointly  of  men  and  women  Friends.  We 
"  therefore  propose  that  Friends  of  Fallsington  and  Bristol 
"Meetings,  together  with  the  scattered  members  in  Bucks 
"County,  Pa.,  and  in  Burlington  County,  N.  J.,  should  form 
"one  Monthly  Meeting,  to  be  called  Falls  Monthly  Meeting 
"of  Friends;  and  that  Friends  residing  in  other  places  within 
"the  limits  of  this  General  Meeting,  should,  for  the  present, 
"compose  another  Monthly  Meeting,  to  be  called  the  Monthly 
"  Meeting  of  Friends,  held  in  Philadelphia."  .... 

The  two  Monthly  Meetings,  thus  directed  to  be  estab- 
lished, were  opened  in  the  ninth  month,  18G6;  both 
being  attended  by  a  committee  of  the  General  Meeting, 


310 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FKIENDS  IN      [CHAP.  XV. 


appointed  for  the  purpose.  They  have  since  increased 
to  four  in  number,  through  the  annexation  of  Salem 
Monthly  Meeting,  in  Ohio,  and  Nottingham  and  Little 
Britain  Monthly  Meeting,  in  Maryland.* 

Thus  Friends  went  gradually  but  steadily  onward, 
taking  one  step  after  another,  as  they  were  enabled,  to- 
wards rebuilding  the  walls  that  had  been  broken  down  ; 
quietly  leaving  the  Yearly  Meeting  to  take  its  own 
course,  in  tampering  with  the  schism.  But  they  were 
not,  meantime,  nor  had  they  expected  to  be,  free  from 
their  share  of  trials  from  false  brethren  ;  or  superficial 
ones  not  truly  baptized  for  this  warfare,  who  had  joined 
them  from  various  motives ;  or  those  who,  through  un- 
watchfulness,  fell  from  a  measure  of  grace  formerly 
known,  and  became  alienated  from  the  way  of  truth 
which  they  had  once  advocated  and  clearly  seen  to  be 
the  way  for  them  to  walk  in.  Here  and  there  was  one 
who  became  entangled  in  high  notions  of  spiritual  at- 
tainment, and  thus  indulged  in  strange  imaginations, 
which  not  being  sanctioned  by  Friends  generally,  such 
an  one  struck  off  from  the  track,  and  walked  no  more 
with  them.  A  few  others,  equally  un watchful,  being 
caught  by  a  spirit  of  self-righteousness,  began  to  blame 
their  brethren  and  sisters  who  did  not  see  exactly  as 
they  saw,  and,  because  they  could  not  have  their  own 
way,  they  also  went  off  with  a  feeling  of  alienation. 
Still  another  class,  entangled  in  the  snare  of  over-ween- 
ing personal  attachment,  and  thinking  of  some  " more 
highly  than  they  ought  to  think" — like  the  Avomen  who 

*  Since  the  erection  of  a  new  meeting-house  by  Friends  of  Philadelphia,  on 
Olive  Street,  west  of  Nortli  Eleventh  Street,  it  has  been  agreed  to  hold  the 
General  Meetings  in  the  sixth  and  ninth  months  as  before,  at  Fallsiugtou,  and 
those  in  the  twelfth  and  third  months  in  Philadelphia. 


1866.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


311 


helped  to  delude  James  Naylor  in  former  days — became 
strangely  impetuous  in  their  ways,  contemning  the  order 
of  truth  and  the  tender  advice  of  Friends  deeply  con- 
cerned for  their  safety  and  the  welfare  of  the  church, 
and  had  to  be  disowned.  All  this  was  very  discourag- 
ing. Indeed,  the  enemy  of  all  righteousness  seemed 
bent  upon  rending  this  little  company,  and  thus  frus- 
trating their  testimony.  But  the  Lord  sustained  it,  and 
even  these  sorrowful  occurrences  afforded  evidence  of 
the  vitality  of  the  body,  in  that  it  was  enabled  to  cast 
off  the  diseased  or  dead  branches,  instead  of  weakly  al- 
lowing them  to  remain — for  the  sake  of  a  hollow  peace — 
and  bring  forth  unwholesome  fruit.  The  latter  class 
above  mentioned,  we  shall  meet  with  in  a  portion  of  the 
ensuing  chapter. 

It  is  not  within  the  scope  of  this  work  to  trace  par- 
ticularly the  further  transactions  of  this  branch  of  the 
Smaller  Bodies  of  Friends  (holding  its  General  Meeting 
in  Pennsylvania),  since  its  establishment  as  an  organized 
body  independent  of  the  lapsed  Yearly  Meeting  of  Phil- 
adelphia. Thus  much  it  seemed  needful  to  say,  to  show 
its  true  position.  But  .it  may  be  safely  acknowledged, 
with  thankfulness  to  the  Great  Head  of  the  church, 
that  it  has  from  time  to  time,  through  all  its  trials,  felt 
the  sustaining  help  of  divine  love  and  condescension.  It 
has  had  various  comfortable  additions  to  its  numbers  ; 
and  is  believed  to  be,  since  the  cessation  of  the  disturb- 
ing elements  which  have  just  been  alluded  to  (and  which 
ought  to  have  been  reasonably  expected  to  arise  for  a 
time),  in  a  more  encouraging  state  of  unity  and  of  con- 
sistency generally  with  our  profession,  than  those  look- 
ing upon  it  from  an  outside  point  of  view  may  be  aware 


312 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN      [CHAP.  XV. 


of.  Gifts  and  qualifications  for  service  in  the  church 
have  not  been  withheld  from  its  members,  but  graciously 
intrusted  to  brethren  and  sisters  with  an  evidence  of  the 
true  life,  for  the  edification  of  the  body,  and  for  the  invi- 
tation of  others  to  taste  and  see  for  themselves  the  good- 
ness of  the  Shepherd  of  Israel ;  and  this  greatly  beyond 
desert.  With  nothing  to  boast  of  individually  or  col- 
lectively— a  small  and  weak  remnant  of  a  backsliding 
generation — they  are  striving  as  it  were  against  wind 
and  tide,  to  hold  up  the  standard  of  the  ancient  faith, 
which  was,  until  recent  times,  so  faithfully  sustained  by 
Philadelphia  Yearly  Meeting.  But  while  the  depar- 
tures from  this  standard  have  been  constantly  increasing, 
the  Yearly  Meetings  of  Philadelphia  and  Ohio  have 
stood  mournfully  gazing  at  the  desolations,  with  their 
hands  tied  by  the  fallacious  dogmas  of  the  middle 
policy  ;  so  that  for  a  quarter  of  a  century  past  they  have 
absolutely  done  nothing  effectually  to  stay  the  flood 
overflowing  the  whole  land,  or  to  encourage  in  the  least 
degree  those  who  were  concerned  to  be  found  standing 
openly  and  unmistakably  against  its  inroads. 


1859.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


313 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

SUBDIVISION  IN  NEW  ENGLAND,  IN  1863 — RISE  AND 
FAILURE  OF  A  GENERAL  MEETING  OF  THE  SMALLER 
BODY  IN  OHIO. 

There  was  still  to  be  experienced  a  low  and  some- 
what sifting  period  in  the  progress  of  the  " Smaller 
Bodies."  Abundantly  clear  was  the  evidence  from  time 
to  time  afforded  by  the  events  which  followed  the  de- 
velopment of  the  half-way  or  compromising  policy  in 
Pennsylvania,  New  Jersey,  and  Ohio,  that  the  Smaller 
Bodies,  as  originally  isolated  from  the  modernized  meet- 
ings, contained  a  mixture  of  that  same  half-way  ele- 
ment, which  was  not  prepared  to  stand  firm  in  the  day 
of  trial.  We  have  already  seen  it  exemplified  in  the 
separation  of  the  King  party  from  the  Yearly  Meeting 
of  New  York  at  Poplar  Ridge,  and  we  have  now  to 
witness  a  similar  feature  in  New  England.  Alas!  it  is 
a  grievous  and  a  dismal  thing  to  trace  the  further  pro- 
gress of  the  "divisions  and  subdivisions"  thus  fomented 
by  the  enemy  of  the  Lord's  truth  and  people.  But  a 
sense  of  religious  duty  requires  that  these  transactions 
be  faithfully  recorded,  so  far  at  least  as  to  demonstrate 
their  true  bearing,  and  place  the  responsibility  where  it 
rightly  belongs ;  that  the  cause  of  Truth  itself  may  not 
suffer,  through  the  weakness  and  failure  of  some  of  its 
vol.  ii. — 27 


314 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN     [CHAP.  XVI. 


unwatchful  advocates,  or  the  misrepresentations  of  its 
opponents. 

In  contemplating  the  evidences  of  this  weakness,  we 
ought  to  remember  that  the  members  of  the  Smaller 
Bodies  did  not  profess  to  have  taken  their  isolated  posi- 
tion because  they  were  wiser  or  better  than  other  men — 
far  from  it  indeed — but  because  they  were  favored  to  see 
clearly  the  fundamental  changes  which  the  great  body 
of  the  Society  was  drifting  into,  and  they  could  not 
conscientiously  unite  with  it  therein,  and  thereby  plunge 
themselves  and  their  families  into  the  same  obvious  and 
vital  changes.  They  were  not  generally  individuals  of 
long  experience  or  large  attainment,  and  some  of  them 
had  at  first  joined  the  movement,  doubtless,  from  mo- 
tives more  or  less  defective. 

The  separation  of  what  was  called  "  the  King  party," 
of  New  York,  caused  not  only  a  great  reproach  to  be 
cast  upon  all  the  small  remnants,  but  also  tended  in 
a  particular  manner  to  weaken  that  of  Xew  England,  and 
thereby  gave  the  adversary  a  plea  to  raise  a  special  cry 
of  exultation.  This  company  of  Friends  had,  since  the 
separation  made  by  the  disciples  of  J.  J.  Gurnev,  in 
1845,  lost  many  of  its  most  experienced  and  faithful 
members  by  death  ;  including  Seth  and  Mary  Davis, 
Prince  Gardner,  Francis  Taber,  Thomas  Foster,  John 
Wilbur,  and  Thomas  B.  Gould;  whose  absence  from 
their  deliberations  was  very  sensibly  felt,  as  well  as  the 
want  of  the  continued  example  of  their  steady  and  up- 
right walk.  Some  of  those  now  left  upon  the  scene  of 
action  had  depended  perhaps  too  much  on  the  large 
experience  and  right  authority  of  these,  and  not  being 
of  equally  solid  religious  attainments,  and,  it  may  be, 


1859.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


315 


trusting  too  much  to  their  own  intellectual  abilities  or 
to  the  prestige  of  their  rightly  qualified  elders  and  rela- 
tives, were  not  equally  endowed  as  counsellors  in  the 
affairs  of  the  church  during  perilous  or  critical  times. 
Some  of  these  also,  looking  too  much  outward,  had  un- 
happily imbibed  more  or  less  of  the  middle  policy,  which 
induced  them  constantly  to  encourage  a  hope  of  eventual 
recognition  by  Philadelphia  Yearly  Meeting,  and  to 
shape  their  measures  in  accordance  with  that  vain  hope.* 
These,  of  course,  also  partook  of  the  ill-founded  repug- 
nance mentioned  in  a  former  chapter  as  entertained  by 
certain  leaders  of  the  middle  party  in  Philadelphia, 
against  the  memory  of  Job  Otis,  and  even  against  those 
who  had  unity  with  him. 

Representations  were  made,  calculated  to  prejudice  the 
minds  of  honest  Friends  in  New  England,  who  knew  not 
all  the  circumstances,  against  the  course  taken  by  those 
Friends  of  Poplar  Ridge  who  had  stood  firm  in  resist- 
ing the  disorderly  and  disorganizing  measures  of  the 
King  party;  and  an  opinion  was  now  advanced  and 
strongly  urged,  that  no  separations  were  justifiable  ex- 
cept on  the  ground  of  attempts  to  introduce  unsound 
doctrine*;  its  advocates  apparently  forgetting  how  re- 
cently some  of  them  had  encouraged  by  their  presence 
a  few  in  New  York  in  setting  up  an  entirely  unauthor- 
ized separate  meeting  for  worship,  with  no  other  alleged 
cause  for  it  than  what  was  merely  personal  in  its  nature; 
forgetting  also  that  every  disownment  of  a  delinquent 
member  is  a  separation  of  the  Church  from  that  mem- 

*  This  clinging  to  a  hope  of  eventual  recognition  has  continued  to  be  mani- 
fested in  a  frequent  attendance,  even  of  late  years,  of  Philadelphia  Yearly  Meet- 
ing by  some  of  their  prominent  members,  and  also  by  the  tenor  of  an  Epistle 
issued  by  them  in  1870. 


316 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN     [CHAP.  XVI. 


ber,  differing  from  the  other  in  the  numbers  involved, 
and  in  the  moving  cause. 

Thus,  much  disunity  and  difficulty  were  produced  in 
the  Smaller  Body  of  New  England.  A  pamphlet  was 
published  by  one  of  the  objectors  in  1860,  founded  on 
the  same  untenable  sentiment,  and  harshly  censuring  the 
sound  Friends  of  Xew  York  Yearly  Meeting,  as  if  they 
had  been  the  cause  of  the  King  separation ;  but  by  no 
means  sustaining  the  charges  with  anything  worthy  of 
being  looked  upon  as  evidence  of  it.* 

Under  such  influences,  aided  by  great  unwatchfulness 
on  the  part  of  some,  a  party  soon  appeared  in  New 
England,  whose  efforts  were  bent  to  obstruct  the  recog- 
nition of  what  was  styled  "  the  Otis  party "  of  Xew 
York,  in  the  hope,  apparently,  of  thus  facilitating  their 
own  recognition  by  Philadelphia  Yearly  Meeting.  To 
accomplish  this  purpose  they  persisted  for  four  years 
in  a  course  which  sorrowfully  rent  the  bonds  of  fellow- 
ship that  had  existed  among  them,  and  carried  grief  and 
sore  discouragement  into  the  hearts  of  many  of  their 
Friends  abroad. 

When  their  Yearly  Meeting,  in  1859,  received  infor- 
mation of  the  events  at  Poplar  Ridge,  through  epistles 
addressed  to  it  by  each  of  the  parties,  that  meeting  was 
so  much  divided  in  sentiment  on  the  subject,  that  it  failed 
to  come  to  any  conclusion,  but  referred  the  question  to 
the  care  of  the  Meeting  for  Sufferings.  This  meeting, 
after  much  discussion  and  difficulty,  adopted,  in  the 

*  This  very  weak  pamphlet  elicited  a  "Reply"  from  David  Hcston,  then  a 
resident  at  Poplar  Ridge,  and  a  member  of  the  "Smaller  Body,"  briefly  defend- 
ing the  course  pursued  by  our  Friends,  as  having  been  in  true  gospel  order,  and 
for  the  sustaining  of  the  discipline  of  the  Society. 


I860.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


317 


fourth  month,  1860,  a  report  to  the  ensuing  Yearly 
Meeting,  to  the  effect  that  they  were  not  united  in  recom- 
mending; the  recognition  of  either  of  the  two  bodies  at 
Poplar  Ridge.  The  Yearly  Meeting,  in  the  sixth  month, 
after  a  very  painful  deliberation  on  the  subject,  came  to 
the  same  conclusion.  It  was  therefore  left  without  de- 
cision to  another  year. 

The  longer  the  question  was  left  undecided,  the  weaker 
the  Yearly  Meeting  became.  Those  dissenting  from 
correspondence  with  Friends  of  Poplar  Ridge  attempted 
to  sustain  their  opposition  by  pressing  the  idea,  that 
because  doctrines  were  not  the  basis  of  the  controversy 
in  New  York,  but  questions  of  discipline,  the  separation 
was  not  only  not  to  be  countenanced,  but  both  parties 
were  to  be  rejected;  although  they  fully  admitted  that 
the  separation  had  been  begun  by  the  King  party  in  the 
Monthly  Meeting,  and  they  were  not  able  to  fasten  upon 
the  others  the  charge  of  having  acted  essentially  or 
fundamentally  wrong,  so  as  to  vitiate  their  position  as 
standing  against  disorder.  It  was  not  necessary  to  spend 
time  in  refuting  their  opinion  that  doctrines  were  the 
only  ground  for  separations.  Neither  had  those  Friends 
for  whom  James  D.  Otis  acted  as  clerk,  attempted  to 
justify  the  separation  ;  but  they  had  satisfactorily  cleared 
themselves  from  the  responsibility  of  having  caused  it. 
Friends  of  that  Yearly  Meeting  had  been  acknowledged 
as  brethren  for  several  years  by  those  of  New  England, 
and  it  was  now  a  very  serious  thing  to  deprive  them  all 
of  that  character,  by  breaking  the  connection  with  both 
parties,  without  discrimination  as  to  where  the  responsi- 
bility lay. 

At  the  Yearly  Meeting  of  1861,  a  continuance  of  the 


318 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN     [CHAP.  XVI. 


same  opposition  prevented  any  action;  and  in  1862  this 
opposition  was  extended  also  to  the  reception  of  an 
Epistle  and  a  Minute  from  the  General  Meeting  of 
Friends  held  at  Fallsington  in  Pennsylvania.  Never- 
theless, after  a  painful  discussion  of  the  matter  for  three 
hours,  the  latter  were  both  read.  But  the  dissenting 
party  would  by  no  means  permit  anything  further  to  be 
recorded  on  minute  respecting  the  meeting  at  Fallsing- 
ton, than  a  bare  notice  of  the  reception  and  reading  of 
the  documents.*  The  recognition  of  the  New  York 
Yearly  Meeting  was  still  successfully  resisted  by  them. 
They  also  showed  their  oneness  of  practice  with  the 
middle  party  of  Philadelphia,  by  objecting,  at  this  and 
previous  Yearly  Meetings,  to  correspond  with  the  Smaller 
Body  of  Baltimore;  though  they  alleged,  as  their  reason 
for  this,  that  they  also  had  recognized  one  of  the  meet- 
ings in  New  York  having  James  D.  Otis  for  clerk. 
Thus  the  success  of  their  plan  would  have  isolated  the 
"  Smaller  Body  "  of  New  England  from  all  the  others 
now  existing. 

The  Yearly  Meeting  convened  at  Newport,  as  usual, 
on  the  15th  of  sixth  month,  1863.  Several  friends 
were  present  from  within  the  limits  of  New  York  Yearly 
Meeting,  and  the  General  Meeting  held  at  Fallsington, 
and  one  member  of  the  "  King  "  meeting  of  New  York. 
After  attending  to  the  usual  preliminary  business,  the 
Epistle  from  Baltimore  Yearly  Meeting,  held  at  Not- 
tingham, was  read  and  minuted,  though  with  some  op- 

*  Their  aversion  to  the  General  Meeting  at  Fallsington  can  only  be  accounted 
for  by  its  having  united  with  those  Friends  of  New  York  from  whom  the  King 
party  had  separated,  and  by  the  fact  that  it  bore  a  clear  testimony  against 
Philadelphia  Yearly  Meeting,  whose  favor  these  dissenting  ones  manifested  an 
anxiety  to  secure. 


1863.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


319 


position.  The  clerk  then  informed  the  meeting  that 
there  was  on  the  table  an  Epistle  from  the  General 
Meeting  held  at  Fallsington,  in  Pennsylvania,  and  sug- 
gested that,  as  one  from  that  meeting  had  been  read 
among  them  the  previous  year,  this  might  be  read  at 
the  present  time.  A  letter,  now  before  the  writer,. from 
one  who  was  present,  declares  that  the  solid  sense  of  the 
meeting  was"  to  have  it  read.  But  quite  a  number 
strongly  opposed  it,  several  of  them  proposing  to  refer 
it  to  a  committee.  The  other  Friends  could  not  consent 
to  this,  being  convinced  that  the  General  Meeting  held 
at  Fallsington  was  composed  of  Friends  who  were  en- 
deavoring to  do  the  best  they  could  to  stand  for  the 
cause  of  truth,  and  knowing,  too,  that  the  Epistle  from 
that  meeting  had  last  year  been  read  and  minuted. 

After  a  painful  discussion  of  about  two  hours  and  a 
half,  the  clerk  at  length  stood  up  to  read  the  Epistle, 
intimating  that  he  believed  the  prevailing  sense  of  the 
livingly  exercised  members  was  to  have  it  read.  The 
principle  had  always  been  maintained,  in  the  healthy 
days  of  the  Society,  that  the  clerk's  duty  is  to  act  ac- 
cording to  the  mind  of  Truth,  as  expressed  in  the  meet- 
ing under  a  living  concern  and  exercise  of  mind  by  the 
consistent  members.  On  no  other  principle  than  this 
can  our  meetings  for  discipline  be  sustained  on  the 
primitive  ground  ;  but  its  abandonment  must  lead  (and 
has  led)  to  confusion  and  defection.  As  the  clerk  was 
about  to  read  the  document,  he  was  interrupted  by  one 
of  those  dissenting,  and  sat  down  ;  but,  after  a  little 
time,  arose  again  and  read  the  Epistle,  and  some  Friends 
expressing  satisfaction  with  it,  he  made  a  minute  accord- 
ingly.   Two  of  the  members  wished  the  expression  of 


320 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN     [CHAP.  XVI. 


satisfaction  stricken  from  the  minute,  but  this  was  not 
done.  The  meeting  then  adjourned  to  the  afternoon. 
At  the  adjourned  sitting,  the  representatives  reporting 
that  they  had  not  been  able  to  agree  on  any  name  to 
propose  as  clerk,  the  clerk  of  the  previous  year,  accord- 
ing to  former  usage,  was  continued  in  the  service.  He 
then  proposed  the  reading  of  the  New  York  Epistle; 
which  was  united  with  by  a  number  of  friends,  but 
strenuously  opposed  by  the  dissenting  portion  of  the 
members.  After  a  great  deal  had  been  said,  of  a  very 
painful  character,  it  was  concluded  to  adjourn  to  the 
next  morning  at  nine  o'clock. 

On  Third-day  morning,  the  16th,  the  meeting  re- 
sumed the  deliberation  respecting  the  New  York  Epis- 
tle. Much  opposition  was  again  expressed  to  its  being 
read ;  and,  after  various  harsh  expressions  had  been 
uttered,  a  friend  of  considerable  influence  rose  and  ex- 
pressed his  sense  of  the  sorrowful  condition  to  which 
the  meeting  was  brought ;  adding  that,  in  reflecting  upon 
their  situation,  he  was  impressed  with  the  belief  that 
they  were  not  able,  in  their  present  condition,  to  hold  a 
Yearly  Meeting  any  longer  to  the  honor  of  the  Head  of 
the  church.*  He  said  he  had  some  weeks  ago  laid  this 
subject  before  the  Meeting  for  Sufferings  for  considera- 
tion. Several  now,  who  had  objected  to  the  reading  of 
the  Epistle,  perceiving  to  what  the  friend's  proposition 
tended,  expressed  a  willingness  to  submit  to  hear  the 
document  read  (though  they  could  not  unite  with  it), 

*  It  would  appear  tliat  there  was  not  sufficient  ground  for  so  sweeping  a 
declaration, even  in  the  weak  condition  of  the  Yearly  Meeting  at  that  time;  and 
its  inconsiderate  expression  must  have  greatly  discouraged  the  friends  of  right 
order,  and  promoted  disintegration. 


1863.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


321 


rather  than  proceed  to  such  an  extremity.  These  were 
told,  however,  by  this  same  friend,  that  the  reading  of 
that  Epistle  now  would  not  make  things  any  better; 
they  had  been  contending  for  four  years  about  the  cor- 
respondence, and  were  the  Epistle  now  read,  the  same 
difficulty  must  recur  every  time  such  reading  was  re- 
newed. 

This  sentiment,  questionable  and  injudicious  as  its 
utterance  at  that  time  appears  to  have  been,  had  a  very 
discouraging  effect  on  the  meeting.  The  clerk,  being 
called  on  to  proceed  with  the  business,  arose,  and  after 
alluding  to  the  sorrowful  disunity  which  was  so  mani- 
fest among  them,  declined  further  service  as  clerk  for 
that  meeting,  in  the  condition  it  was  then  in.  Several 
of  the  members  now  expressed  views  somewhat  similar 
in  tenor  to  the  sentiments  expressed  by  the  other  friend 
above  mentioned.  A  deep  silence  then  spread  over  the 
assembly.  After  this,  one  of  the  dissenting  members 
remarked,  that  the  clerk  having  now  resigned,  it  would 
be  necessary  to  appoint  another;  which  being  united 
with  by  those  of  similar  sentiments,  and  other  friends 
taking  no  further  part,  they  appointed  Valentine  Mea- 
der,  the  assistant  clerk,  to  act  as  clerk  for  them.  He 
soon  made  a  minute  of  adjournment,  and  all  left  the 
meeting-house,  even  the  books  being  left  in  his  pos- 
session. 

It  is  known  to  the  author  that  the  clerk,  who  had 
declined  serving  the  meeting  any  longer,  had  no  pros- 
pect of  any  further  measures,  nor  had  he  any  other  ex- 
pectation when  leaving  the  meeting-house,  than  that  of 
returning  to  it  for  the  afternoon  session,  or  until  some 
vol.  ii, — 28 


322 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN      [CHAP.  XVI. 


way  should  open  for  relief.*  This  feeling  was  partici- 
pated by  some  other  friends  with  him.  But  early  in 
the  afternoon  Friends  were  requested  to  meet  together 
at  a  friend's  house,  where  many  of  them  were  staying; 
and  on  deliberating  on  the  disunity  so  manifest  in  the 
Yearly  Meeting,  the  same  friend  above  mentioned  ex- 
pressed his  belief  that  "  it  would  be  unsafe  for  them  to 
return  to  the  meeting-house."  The  influence  of  what 
he  said  was  such,  that  other  friends  fell  in  with  this 
view,  and  under  feelings  of  great  trial,  but  with  a  trust 
in  divine  mercy  and  help,  this  little  stripped  company, 
consisting,  as  it  was  thought,  of  about  forty  friends, 
concluded  to  continue  the  sittings,  apart  from  those  who 
had  opposed  their  fellowship  with  the  other  smaller 
bodies. 

It  is  undeniable  that  this  was  a  very  summary  pro- 
cedure. Whether  it  was  the  best  that  might  have  been 
done  under  all  the  circumstances,  is  a  question  which 
perhaps  can  scarcely  be  judged  clearly  by  those  who 
were  not  present.  I  have  given  those  circumstances  as 
impartially  as,  so  far  as  I  can  see,  the  truth  will  allow. 
Those  Friends  who  were  in  fellowship  with  the  other 
small  bodies  thought,  at  the  time,  that  the  step  was 
called  for  and  essential  for  their  safety,  and  believed 
that,  however  sorrowful,  they  were  graciously  sustained 
by  divine  approval.  A  living  though  crippled  remnant 
survived,  which  was  now  enabled  to  join  hand  to  hand 
with  their  brethren  in  other  parts,  concerned  to  maintain 
the  ancient  faith  of  the  Society,  untrammelled  by  the 
illusory  pleas  of  a  half-way  policy.    There  was  a  spirit 


*  This  shows  that  he  was  not  engaged  iu  auy  preconcerted  plan. 


1863.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


323 


of  opposition  to  the  other  small  bodies  manifested  among 
those  from  whom  they  had  retired,  similar  to  that  which 
had  shown  itself  in  much  larger  assemblies,  a  few  years 
previously,  and  which  seemed  at  this  time  to  preclude 
much  hope  of  harmonious  labor  together  for  the  cause 
of  truth.  Yet,  as  we  have  seen  above,  the  dissenting 
portion  of  the  meeting  had  now  expressed  some  submis- 
sion to  the  views  of  others  (though  a  late  and  reluctant 
one),  and  if  the  advocates  of  fellowship  with  the  rest  of 
the  small  bodies  had  then  firmly  but  temperately  and 
tenderly,  in  the  fear  of  the  Lord,  held  their  ground 
(which  they  had  the  right  and  power  to  do),  those  dis- 
senting, or  at  least  some  of  them,  might  have  gradually 
submitted  more  entirely  to  the  convictions  of  truth,  and 
harmony  might  perhaps  have  been  restored.  The  An- 
nual Meeting,  however,  was  in  this  manner  and  to  this 
extent  sustained,  and  appointing  Peleg  Mitchell  as 
clerk,  requested  him  to  prepare  a  suitable  minute,  to  set 
forth  the  cause  of  their  peculiarly  trying  situation,  for 
attention  at  a  future  sitting ;  and  then  adjourned  to  ten 
o'clock  the  next  morning. 

The  meeting  next  morning  is  described  by  one  who 
was  present  as  a  tendering  season,  in  which  prayer  and 
supplication  ascended.  The  minute  prepared  by  the 
clerk  was  read,  considered,  and  adopted,  and  the  meet- 
ing adjourned  to  the  afternoon.  They  had  again  a 
comfortable  season,  at  which  some  business  was  attended 
to,  including  the  reading  of  the  New  York  Epistle,  and 
the  appointment  of  a  committee  to  prepare  a  reply 
thereto,  and  likewise  epistles  to  Baltimore  Yearly  Meet- 
ing and  the  General  Meeting  at  Fallsington,  if  way 
should  open  for  it. 


324 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN    [CHAP.  XVI. 


In  the  sitting  on  Fifth-day,  the  essays  of  Epistles  to 
the  Meetings  held  at  Poplar  Ridge,  Nottingham,  and 
Fallsington,  were  read  and  adopted  ;  and  the  minute 
describing  the  causes  leading  to  their  present  tried  situ- 
ation was  directed  to  accompany  each  of  the  epistles. 
This  minute  is  chiefly  a  brief  narration  of  the  circum- 
stances which  have  been  above  described.  A  time  of 
quiet  solemnity  ensued,  and  the  clerk  finally  read  the 
concluding  minute — to  meet  again  at  the  usual  time  the 
next  year,  at  Newport,  if  the  Lord  permit. 

These  Annual  Meetings  of  Friends  for  New  England, 
in  fellowship  with  Friends  in  other  parts  concerned  to 
withstand  the  defection  in  principle  and  practice,  have 
since  continued  to  be  regularly  held  at  Newport,  Rhode 
Island ;  and,  though  much  reduced  in  numbers,  they 
have  been  attended  with  a  comfortable  evidence  of  the 
merciful  care  and  help  of  the  Great  Shepherd  extended 
toward  his  tribulated  "  little  flock."  Their  correspond- 
ence was  promptly  received  and  reciprocated  by  the 
meetings -of  the  smaller  bodies  in  other  places,  except- 
ing, of  course,  those  who  had  joined  in  with  the  separa- 
tion from  Friends  in  the  State  of  New  York,  with  John 
King  for  clerk.  These  latter  became  entirely  isolated 
from  all  other  remnants  of  the  Society ;  as  was  also  the 
case  with  the  meeting  held  by  those  in  New  England 
who  left  the  fellowship  of  the  other  small  bodies;  and 
this  isolation  still  continues;  neither  of  these  two  latter 
meetings  being  recognized  or  corresponded  with  by  any 
other  meeting  of  the  Society  whatever,  nor  even  by  each 
other.  In  view  of  the  inadequacy  of  the  cause  and  du- 
bious circumstances  of  the  separation  just  described,  it 
is  greatly  to  be  desired,  that  through  the  softening  in- 


1863.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


325 


fluences  of  divine  love,  melting  down  all  that  is  of  self 
and  tends  to  alienation,  the  way  may  open  for  a  right 
reunion  of  brethren  and  sisters  having  one  object  in 
view,  even  the  sustaining  of  the  precious  testimonies  of 
the  gospel  committed  to  our  primitive  Friends. 

Nearly  all  the  men  of  Israel  who  came  out  of  Egypt, 
of  an  age  to  be  equipped  for  war,  perished  before  ever 
reaching  the  promised  land.  Because  of  their  murmur- 
ing and  want  of  faith,  their  "carcasses  fell  in  the  wilder- 
ness." Yet  their  failure  did  not  invalidate  or  in  any 
degree  make  void  the  gracious  purposes  of  the  Most 
High,  in  bringing  them  forth,  that  He  might  conduct 
his  church  through  the  wilderness  unto  a  land  of  favor 
and  of  promise,  a  land  flowing  with  milk  and  honey. 
AVe  have  never  heard  it  said  that  the  action  of  the  Is- 
raelites in  leaving  Egypt  could  not  have  been  a  right 
one,  because  so  many  of  them  rebelled  and  died  on  the 
way.  Neither  has  it  been  alleged,  except  it  might  be 
by  unbelievers,  that  David's  course  was  unjustifiable, 
when  he  fled  for  his  life  to  the  cave  of  Adullam,  and 
was  joined  by  a  few  followers,  some  of  whom  were,  in- 
deed, of  no  honor  to  his  reputation  among  princes.  The 
Lord  works  by  whom  he  will,  and  his  choice  of  instru- 
ments— perhaps  in  order  to  bring  to  nothing  the  pride 
of  man — is  sometimes  such  as  would  not  seem  likely  to 
the  judgment  of  the  human  intellect.  And  even  should 
some  such  instruments  prove  rebellious,  and  turn  aside 
before  their  work  is  accomplished,  this  does  not  vitiate 
his  choice  of  them,  or  frustrate  the  fulfilling  of  his  will 
in  his  own  time;  for  he  can  and  does  call  in  others,  and 
qualify  them  to  carry  on  his  purposes,  so  that  his  word 
may  not  return  unto  him  void,  but  may  accomplish  that 


326 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN     [CHAP.  XVI. 


whereunto  he  sent  it,  and  prove  to  rebellions  man,  that 
He  is  God  over  all,  overruling  all  things  to  the  honor  of 
his  great  name,  that  the  pride  of  man  may  be  laid  in 
the  dust. 

We  have  now  to  move  westward,  and  contemplate  the 
sad  devastation  effected  within  Ohio  Yearly  Meeting, 
through  the  laying  waste  of  the  testimony  by  the  "  mid- 
dle party  "  there,  even  after  the  departure  from  them,  in 
1854,  of  the  more  open  advocates  of  the  Gurney  schism. 

Benjamin  Hoyle,  for  many  years  the  clerk  of  Ohio 
Yearly  Meeting,  soon  after  the  separation  there  of  1854, 
led  the  way  in  a  very  determined  manner  for  the  tem- 
porizing party,  in  imitation  of  the  same  class  in  Phila- 
delphia, and,  as  it  would  seem,  at  the  dictation  of  their 
leaders,  to  repudiate  all  the  "smaller  bodies."  In  the 
Yearly  Meeting  of  1857,  he  is  said  to  have  been  the  first 
to  oppose  the  reception  of  the  credentials  of  a  minister 
from  one  of  these  bodies,  after  there  had  been  a  delib- 
erate and  large  expression  favorable  to  their  being  re- 
ceived and  read.  He  also  objected  to  recognizing  the 
Yearly  Meeting  for  Baltimore,  held  at  Nottingham,  be- 
cause, as  he  said,  they  had  corresponded  with  New  York 
and  Xew  England  (smaller  bodies).  And  on  one  occa- 
sion he  went  so  far  as  to  assert,  that  "  doctrines  had 
nothing  to  do  with  the  separation  in  Xew  England — it 
was  a  mere  matter  of  discipline  ! "  It  was  also,  about 
this  time,  mainly  through  his  influence,  that  a  series  of 
irregular  measures  was  taken,  resulting  in  the  establish- 
ment of  meetings  in  Iowa  (which  was  then  within  the 
limits  of  Indiana  Yearly  Meeting),  subordinate  to  Still- 
water Quarterly  Meeting,  Ohio,  of  which  he  was  a  mem- 
ber; by  which  the  sound  Friends  there  were,  as  we  have 


1861.]  THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


327 


already  seen,  so  greatly  interfered  with,  and  their  meet- 
ings diminished  and  discouraged,  instead  of  being  cher- 
ished as  they  should  have  been  by  Ohio  Yearly  Meet- 
ing. The  meetings  thus  established  in  Iowa  by  Ohio 
Yearly  Meeting,  and  made  branches  of  the  Quarterly 
Meeting  of  Stillwater,  it  must  be  remembered,  were 
directly  within  the  limits  of  Salem  Quarterly  Meeting 
of  Friends  of  the  "smaller  body,"  already  established 
and  apparently  settled ;  so  that  this  hitherto  unheard  of 
measure  was  in  itself  a  manifest  invasion  and  intrusion 
upon  them,  and  could  not  have  been  undertaken  but 
with  a  hostile  intent  against  that  Quarterly  Meeting, 
which  had  never  belonged  to  Ohio,  but  to  Indiana 
Yearly  Meeting.  It  was  evidently  designed  to  prevent 
the  growth,  and,  if  possible,  the  continued  existence  of 
that  little  company  of  Friends,  which  had  come  forth 
in  unity  with  the  "smaller  bodies"  in  their  testimony 
against  the  modern  innovations  in  doctrine.  We  have 
seen  how  it  was  attended  with  the  expected  result. 

In  Ohio  Yearly  Meeting  of  1861,  the  certificates  of 
two  ministers  from  within  New  York  Yearly  Meeting, 
held  at  Poplar  Ridge,  were  refused  reception,  notwith- 
standing a  large  expression  in  favor  of  their  being  read. 
The  epistle  from  Fallsington  General  Meeting  was  also 
rejected,  by  the  prevalence  of  the  middle  party's  influ- 
ence. Much  unity  was  expressed  with  that  General 
Meeting  by  many  solid  substantial  Friends,  who  desired 
that  the  epistle  inight  be  read,  but  it  was  not  done. 
Many  friends,  deeply  concerned  for  the  welfare  of  the 
Society,  and  who  had  earnestly  hoped  that  a  way  would 
be  made  for  decided  action  by  that  Yearly  Meeting, 
through  which  their  fellowship  with  faithful  Friends 


328 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN     [CHAP.  XVI. 


elsewhere  might  be  fully  manifested,  went  home  with 
soiTowful  hearts.  During  one  sitting,  Benjamin  Hoyle 
strongly  opposed  a  minute  being  sent  to  the  Monthly 
Meetings,  encouraging  them  to  put  the  Discipline  in 
practice  against  the  Gurney  separatists  of  1854  ;  he  and 
his  party  alleging  that  these  people  ought  not  to  be 
dealt  with  as  offenders — that  they  were  as  sound  as  they 
were  themselves.  In  this,  however,  he  did  not  then 
succeed.  He  inveighed  bitterlv  against  the  two  min- 
isters  and  their  companions,  then  present  from  New 
York,  designating  that  Yearly  Meeting,  and  the  General 
Meeting  at  Fallsington,  as  separatists.  He  went  so  far 
in  some  of  his  remarks  as  to  be  rebuked  by  the  assistant 
clerk;  but  his  influence  nevertheless  continued  to  control 
the  middle  party  there  (even  after  he  was  released  from 
the  clerkship),  through  the  submissiveness  of  many  who 
allowed  their  faith  to  fail  in  time  of  need. 

The  direction  to  the  Monthly  Meetings  to  put  the 
Discipline  in  practice  in  regard  to  the  separatists  of 
1854,  which  had  passed  the  Yearly  Meeting  of  1861 
with  some  difficulty,  was  so  distasteful  to  B.  Hoyle  and 
many  of  that  party,  that  very  few  of  the  meetings  acted 
in  accordance  therewith.  Shortcreek  was  the  only  Quar- 
terly Meeting  which  sustained  it,  and  this  was  not  in  all 
its  branches.  The  Yearly  Meeting  of  1862  was  char- 
acterized by  the  sorrowful  submission  of  many — who 
had  hitherto  seen  clearly  the  errors  of  the  middle  party 
— to  be  carried  along  with  them  in  their  measures,  for 
the  sake  of  peace.  Among  other  evidences  of  lapse,  a 
minute  was  made,  modifying  the  Discipline  so  far  as 
regarded  the  treatment  of  the  Gurney  separatists  of 
1854,  in  such  a  way  as  to  authorize  Monthly  Meetings 


1862.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


329 


to  disown  them  in  a  wholesale  manner,  without  any 
efforts  for  their  convincement  of  error.  Many  friends 
mourned  over  the  condition  of  the  Yearly  Meeting, 
which  had  isolated  itself  from  all  the  small  remnants  of 
the  Society,  as  well  as  from  the  Gurney  meetings,  and 
was  now  tampering  with  the  most  important  features  of 
the  Discipline.  Some  of  these  friends,  as  before,  lost 
their  faith  in  regard  to  taking  a  firm  stand  against  such 
proceedings;  while  others,  who  felt  discouraged  in  regard 
to  attending  another  Yearly  Meeting  under  such  circum- 
stances, nevertheless  did  not  see  that  this  was  the  time 
to  make  an  open  stand.  These  went  to  their  homes 
under  much  discouragement,  feeling  that  the  power  of 
the  defection,  if  not  its  spirit,  was  paralyzing  not  a  few 
who  had  previously  walked  with  them,  and  stood  va- 
liantly for  the  Lord's  cause,  but  who  now  seemed  willing 
to  submit  to  one  measure  after  another,  by  which  the 
efficacy  of  their  testimony  was  defeated  and  its  vitality 
taken  away.  Thus,  with  many  friends,  all  hope  of  the 
Yearly  Meeting  being  brought  to  a  willingness  practi- 
cally and  firmly  to  sustain  the  ancient  faith  and  consort 
with  the  advocates  of  it,  was  now  entirely  lost.  Some 
of  the  controlling  party  even  seemed  to  exult  in  the 
power  they  had  gained  by  the  submission  of  others,  and 
openly  declared  that  they  "never  would  own"  the 
Smaller  Bodies.* 

Now,  in  their  great  discouragement  and  weakness, 
came  a  procedure,  the  ultimate  event  of  which  seems  to 
indicate  it  to  have  been  beyond  the  ability  of  those  con- 
cerned in  it  to  carry  it  out  through  all  besetting  diffi- 

*  The  General  Meeting's  printed  "  Address,"  18G3,  page  10. 


330  THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN     [CHAP.  XVI. 


culties  to  the  honor  of  Truth,  and  raises  the  question, 
whether  the  movement  was  well  matured,  or  whether  it 
would  not  have  been  more  in  accordance  with  divine 
wisdom  to  have  abode  awhile  longer  in  suffering  and 
patience,  and  in  the  hope  that  a  way  might  still  be 
opened  for  their  relief,  with  more  clear  evidence  of  the 
leading  of  the  great  Shepherd  of  Israel,  who,  when  he 
puts  forth,  will  go  before,  and  sustain  those  who  look 
with  a  single  eye  to  the  pointings  of  his  cloud  by  day 
and  pillar  of  fire  by  night.  Considering  the  condition, 
at  that  time,  of  Ohio  Yearly  Meeting,  the  writer  has 
been  ready  to  query  whether,  when  the  stand  for  the 
ancient  truth  was  taken  there,  it  should  not  have  been 
made,  or  at  least  suggested,  during  the  sittings  of  the 
ensuing  Yearly  Meeting  itself,  when  there  might  have 
been  a  more  general  concurrence  of  sentiment  among 
Friends  sound  in  faith  and  doctrine,  and  deploring  the 
departures  equally  with  those  who  inaugurated  the 
movement  in  a  very  detached  manner  and  form.  Was 
it  judicious  to  act  so  exclusively  of  many  other  Friends 
of  at  least  equal  experience,  and  equally  interested  and 
deeply  grieved  with  the  control  assumed  over  the  Yearly 
Meeting  by  the  middle  men  ?  Did  it  not  shut  out  need- 
lessly and  hurtfully  a  source  of  strength  by  which  they 
might  have  otherwise  been  helped  to  maintain  their 
standing  on  the  true  foundation  ?  Many  Friends  to  the 
eastward  of  Ohio  were  taken  by  surprise  on  hearing  of 
the  mode  of  this  procedure ;  but  were  induced  to  own 
the  organization,  in  a  hope  and  trust  that  it  was  in  right 
ordering,  and  in  a  consideration  of  the  fact  that  it  was 
the  only  body  in  Ohio  acknowledging  fellowship  with 
them. 


1863.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


331 


It  appears  that  in  several  parts  of  Ohio  a  few  friends, 
acting  under  this  despair  of  the  Yearly  Meeting,  and  a 
belief  that  the  time  had  come  for  them  to  testify  against 
its  retaining,  as  a  lapsed  body,  any  rightful  authority, 
began  to  meet,  during  the  autumn  of  1862,  for  divine 
worship,  apart  from  the  usual  meetings,  which  were 
held  subordinate  to  the  Yearly  Meeting.  This,  per- 
haps, was  well.  But  without  waiting  for  the  Yearly 
Meeting  of  1863,  in  which  they  might  have  been 
strengthened  by  the  fellowship  of  other  friends  very 
dear  to  them,  a  General  or  Conference  Meeting  of  these 
isolated  ones  convened  at  Chesterfield,  in  Morgan 
County,  on  the  20th  of  the  sixth  month  of  that  year. 
They  could  no  longer  countenance  the  irregular,  com- 
promising course  of  the  Yearly  Meeting  of  Ohio,  and 
believed  it  to  be  their  duty,  in  its  present  condition,  to 
disown  and  condemn  the  Laodicean  spirit  by  which  it 
was  controlled  ;  which  had  led  it  to  discountenance  all 
those  small  bodies  of  Friends  who  had  unfurled  the 
banner  of  the  ancient  faith,  and  whom  it  had  at  one 
time  acknowledged  as  brethren  and  sisters  "  endeavoring 
to  support  the  same  testimonies"  with  itself. 

About  fifty  individuals,  of  both  sexes,  were  thought 
to  be  in  attendance.  A  considerable  portion  of  the  first 
sitting  was  occupied  in  silent  waiting,  with  desires  to  be 
rightly  cpialified  to  enter  upon  such  services  as  might 
present.  The  meeting  held  two  sittings  that  day,  and 
adjourned  to  Second-day  morning,  the  22d.  Various 
matters  were  then  brought  before  their  attention,  which 
were  harmoniously  resulted  ;  including  the  appointment 
of  Friends  to  needful  services :  and  the  meeting;  con- 
eluded  to  meet  again  on  the  26th  of  the  ninth  month, 


332 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN      [CHAP.  XVI. 


at  HarrisvilJe,  if  the  Lord  should  permit.  In  a  view 
of  the  help  which  it  was  believed  had  been  mercifully 
granted  in  their  deliberations,  the  hearts  of  many  were 
tendered,  and  made  thankful  to  Him  who  careth  for  his 
children,  and  who  had  condescended  to  comfort  them 
in  their  low  and  stripped  condition. 

The  General  Meeting  again  convened,  according  to 
previous  arrangement,  in  the  ninth  month,  at  Harris- 
ville.  The  sittings,  as  before,  were  on  Seventh  and 
Second  days,  with  a  meeting  for  public  worship  on  the 
intermediate  First-day.  At  this  time  a  document  was 
presented  for  consideration,  by  a  committee  appointed  at 
the  previous  meeting,  explanatory  of  the  causes  which 
had  led  Friends  to  meet  as  they  were  now  doing,  apart 
from  the  Yearly  Meeting  of  Ohio.  This  document  was 
read,  and  adopted  by  the  meeting,  and  directed  to  be 
printed  for  circulation.  The  meeting  ended  comfort- 
ably. It  was  a  season  of  humbling  instruction  to  many 
minds,  and  of  thankfulness  to  our  Heavenly  Father  for 
his  condescending  mercy  and  goodness  to  his  poor, 
weak,  unworthy  creatures. 

The  document  adopted  on  this  occasion,  and  after- 
wards published  in  pamphlet  form,  entitled,  "  An  Ad- 
dress to  the  Members  of  the  Society  of  Friends  in  Ohio 
and  elsewhere,"  clearly  showed  the  positions  taken  by 
the  meeting  issuing  it,  and  the  causes  which  had  so  sor- 
rowfully led  to  the  separation  ;  the  facts  therein  brought 
into  view  being  chiefly  such  as  have  been  here  described, 
manifesting  with  somewhat  more  detail  the  inconsistent 
position  into  which  the  Yearly  Meeting  of  Ohio  had 
been  induced  to  slide,  by  the  illusory  devices  of  the 
middle  party  there  and  in  Pennsylvania. 


1863.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


333 


Friends  in  other  places,  belonging  to  the  smaller 
bodies,  were  now  for  a  time  comforted  in  the  contempla- 
tion of  a  standard  for  the  ancient  faith  being  raised  in 
Ohio.  But  their  congratulations  were  brief;  for  the 
enemy  was,  alas  !  soon  at  work  to  undermine  the  fel- 
lowship of  the  General  Meeting  of  Ohio  with  their 
brethren,  and  to  level  their  standard  to  the  ground  ! 
There  were  some  truly  concerned  and  honest-hearted 
friends  among  them,  who  had  been,  according  to  their 
ability,  valiant  for  the  ancient  faith.  But  even  some  of 
these,  not  abiding  in  true  humility  and  watchfulness, 
laid  themselves  open  in  an  evil  day  to  the  wiles  of  the 
cruel  deceiver,  and  fell  into  his  snares.  Oh,  the  dark- 
ness of  that  day,  when  the  bonds  of  fellowship  were 
found  to  be  broken  up,  and  some  who  had  been  felt  as 
brothers  suddenly  went  off  into  bitterness  and  alien- 
ation !  No  pen  can  describe  the  grief  that  came  like  a 
flood  upon  many,  and  this  without  knowing  any  just 
cause  for  the  change  in  their  feelings.  But  there  was  a 
cause — and  a  sad  one  too — and  we  must  now  endeavor 
briefly  to  trace  it. 

If  all  had  closely  obeyed  the  injunction,  "  Be  not 
high-minded,  but  fear,"  the  catastrophe  which  soon  as- 
sailed this  little  company  could  never  have  swept  them 
away  as  it  did.  One  or  two  of  their  prominent  mem- 
bers had  unhappily  become  exalted,  not  only  in  their 
own  self-estimation,  very  different  from  their  former 
state,  but  also  in  the  feelings  of  many  brethren  and  sis- 
ters who  were  placing  an  undue  reliance  upon  their 
judgment  and  stability,  to  the  partial  neglect  of  the 
AVitness  for  Truth  within  their  own  souls.  Indeed, 
there  had  been  from  the  first  an  unsafe  degree  of  confi- 


334 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN     [cHAP.  XVI. 


dencc  in  these  on  the  part  of  some,  which  had  interfered 
with  their  own  growth  in  true  wisdom  and  discernment, 
at  the  same  time  that  it  facilitated  the  fall  of  those  whom 
they  had  thus  contributed  to  lift  up  beyond  their  true 
measure,  and  above  the  safe  place  of  waiting,  in  deep 
humility  before  the  Lord,  for  every  fresh  supply  of 
strength  or  qualification.  Thus  the  body  was  weak- 
ened, and  a  door  opened  for  the  inroads  of  the  spirit  of 
deceit.  While  a  testimony  was  still  maintained  for  the 
ancient  doctrines  of  the  Society,  the  ground  of  genuine 
Quakerism  was  in  measure  practically  lost  sight  of,  by 
the  neglect  of  the  essential  duty  of  each  one  to  be  indi- 
vidually concerned,  to  seek,  in  deep  humility  and  sin- 
gleness of  heart,  and  with  "  senses  exercised  by  reason  of 
use,"  to  know  the  inshinings  of  the  light  of  truth  for 
himself,  and  not  merely  by  another,  and  thus  to  have 
the  understanding  enlightened  to  "discern  betwixt  good 
and  evil." 

Thomas  Lamborn,  who  had  been  recently  acknowl- 
edged as  a  minister  in  Nottingham  Quarterly  Meeting, 
and  had  removed  in  the  year  1860,  to  reside  near  Scipio, 
New  York,  was  frequently  engaged  in  the  ministry, 
both  at  home  and  among  Friends  in  other  parts,  and 
generally,  it  is  believed,  to  the  satisfaction  of  sound 
friends.  There  was  manifest,  however,  at  times,  a  de- 
gree of  strong  will  and  self-confidence,  not  wholly  sub- 
dued by  the  fire  of  the  Lord's  jealousy,  which,  operating 
fully  in  his  soul,  might  have  accomplished  the  work  of 
making  him  a  "pillar  in  the  Lord's  house  that  should 
go  no  more  out."  Yet  meantime  he  appeared  to  be 
zealous  for  the  spreading  of  truth,  and  indefatigable  in 
travelling  as  a  minister  in  various  places.    In  some 


1865.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


335 


parts  where  he  went,  particularly  towards  18G4  and  1865, 
some  few  Friends  became  secretly  uneasy  in  perceiv- 
ing indications  of  the  strong  will  above  mentioned:  but 
a  disposition  was  cherished  to  hope  for  the  best,  and  to 
avoid  dwelling  on,  or  exaggerating  foibles  which  might 
be  corrected  by  a  little  further  experience. 

In  the  spring  of  1865,  T.  Lamborn  opened  to  his 
Monthly  Meeting  a  prospect  of  visiting  Great  Britain 
in  the  work  of  the  ministry.  This  very  serious  concern 
Was  approved  in  the  Monthly  Meeting,  and  afterwards 
in  the  Quarterly  Meeting  of  Scipio;  though  on  the  lat- 
ter occasion  some  friends  were  not  quite  satisfied  of  the 
clearness  of  feeling  that  it  was  right  at  that  time  to 
sanction  it.  Bat  these  did  not  venture  to  express  their 
dissent,  from  a  fear  of  stopping  what  might  be  a  right 
concern.  It  therefore  proceeded  in  due  course  to  the 
Yearly  Meeting  of  Ministers  and  Elders  at  Poplar 
Ridge,  in  the  fifth  month.  But  Thomas  had  been,  dur- 
ing the  previous  winter  and  early  spring,  travelling 
extensively  in  Ohio  and  Pennsylvania,  and  had  impru- 
dently talked  about  his  prospect  to  a  considerable  vari- 
ety of  individuals  here  and  there,  even  previous  to 
spreading  it  before  his  friends  at  home  for  their  judg- 
ment;  and  had  indeed,  thus  early,  gone  so  far  as  to 
involve  an  influential  member  of  the  Ohio  General 
Meeting  in  a  strong  desire  to  accompany  him.  Friends 
went  to  the  Yearly  Meeting  of  Ministers  and  Elders 
with  no  other  expectation  than  that  his  concern  would 
be  sanctioned  by  that  body  ;  but  when  the  meeting  came 
solidly  to  consider  it,  there  was  felt  to  be,  very  unex- 
pectedly, so  heavy  a  cloud  resting  upon  the  tabernacle, 
that  they  dared  not  move  one  step  towards  liberating  him 


336 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN     [CHAP.  XVI. 


for  so  very  weight)'  and  arduous  a  service.  Only  one 
voice  was  heard  in  favor  of  his  liberation  for  it,  and  that 
was  from  a  friend  not  a  member  of  that  Yearly  Meet- 
ing, and  only  recently  appointed  to  the  Select  Meeting 
in  Ohio,  where  she  resided.  The  meeting  thus  not 
being  able  to  move  in  the  matter,  the  concern  was  neces- 
sarily suspended.  There  was  a  tender  feeling  of  sym- 
pathy for  him  on  the  part  of  many  friends,  accompa- 
nied with  a  hope  that  this  unlooked-for  suspension  of 
his  prospect,  painful  as  it  might  be  to  him,  might  prove 
a  profitable  lesson,  and  tend  to  his  furtherance  in  solid 
instruction  and  humility  ;  and  thus  might  open  the  way, 
perhaps,  to  a  different  result,  at  a  future  time,  if  he 
should  be  rightly  prompted  to  reopen  his  concern. 

There  was  at  first  some  reason  to  hope  that  he  would 
thus  quietly  settle  down  under  his  disappointment,  and 
endeavor  to  profit  by  it.  But  several  of  his  too  ardent 
admirers  became  at  once  exceedingly  excited  at  what 
they  deemed  a  wrong  decision,  and  spread  far  and  near 
their  disapprobation  of  the  action,  or  non-action,  of  the 
Select  Yearly  Meeting  at  Scipio ;  endeavoring  to  pro- 
voke a  morbid  sympathy  for  him  whom  they  supposed 
to  have  been  so  improperly  impeded  in  his  religious 
services.  Thomas,  giving  way  to  further  unwatchful- 
ness  and  wilfulness,  appears  to  have  been  roused  by  this 
sympathy  into  a  feeling  of  resentment  against  his  friends, 
which  he  manifested  in  some  public  communications. 

At  the  same  time,  the  clerk  of  the  Ohio  General 
Meeting,  who  had  fixed  his  mind  on  accompanying  him 
in  his  visit  to  England,  became  so  disappointed  and 
grieved,  that  he  also  gave  way  to  a  spirit  of  sharp  and 
bitter  alienation  against  those  Friends  with  whom,  but 


1865.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


337 


a  very  short  time  before,  he  had  apparently  walked  in 
harmony  and  fellowship.  This  bitter  feeling,  strange 
to  say,  immediately  extended,  not  merely  against  those 
in  New  York  who  had  been  concerned  in  the  suspension 
of  T.  L.'s  concern,  but  even  against  those  also  in  Penn- 
sylvania and  other  places  who  were  not  prepared  to 
unite  with  him  in  censuring  the  former. 

He  had  at  that  time  an  undue  influence  among  some 
of  the  members  of  the  little  company  in  Ohio ;  so  that 
his  alienation  of  feeling  at  once  spread  among  these,  and 
woful  indeed  were  the  results  of  their  implicit  confidence 
in  him. 

T.  Lamborn,  who  had  been  advised  on  behalf  of  the 
ciders  of  his  meeting,  in  his  present  unsettled  state  of 
mind  and  disunity  with  his  friends,  to  refrain  from  offer- 
ings in  the  line  of  the  ministry,  nevertheless  addressed 
a  ministerial  epistle  to  the  ensuing  General  Meeting  of 
Ohio,  apparently  for  the  purpose  of  enlisting  their  sym- 
pathy. This  epistle  was  affectionately  accepted,  not- 
withstanding the  information  which  was  given  to  them 
that  the  writer  of  it  was  not  now  in  unity  with  his 
friends  at  home.  And  not  only  did  they  accept  this 
epistle,  but  refused  to  accept,  or  record,  the  credentials 
of  several  friends  in  the  ministry  from  Scipio,  then 
travelling  among  them,  and  with  whom  they  had  pre- 
viously united. 

Two  of  T.  Lamborn's  sympathizers,  belonging  to  the 
General  Meeting  held  at  Fallsington,  had  become  res- 
tive and  much  excited  on  his  account,  and  in  this  con- 
dition had  attempted  to  impose  their  unsavory  and  de- 
nunciatory offerings  in  the  way  of  ministry,  upon  their 
friends  in  Philadelphia;  on  account  of  which,  and  their 
vol.  ii. — "29 


338 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN     [CHAP.  XVI. 


persistence  therein  after  earnest  and  tender  admonition, 
they  had  been  dealt  with  as  offenders,  and  one  of  them 
had  been  disowned.  But  these,  moving  about  this  time 
to  reside  in  Ohio,  were  at  once  taken  by  the  hand  by 
the  adherents  of  T.  Lamborn,  and  treated  as  members 
in  full  unity,  although  they  were  informed  to  the  con- 
trary. One  of  these  two  was  even  permitted  to  pay 
religious  visits  to  their  families,  as  if  he  had  been  a 
recommended  minister,  when  they  knew  that  his  friends 
in  Philadelphia  had  not  only  never  acknowledged  his 
ministry,  but  had  disowned  him  for  his  persisting  in 
a  disregard  of  the  advice  given  him  to  desist  from  his 
denunciatory  disturbance  of  their  meetings  for  divine 
worship. 

The  General  Meeting  for  Pennsylvania,  etc.,  was 
brought  under  deep  sorrow  on  account  of  these  unlooked- 
for  breaches  of  gospel  order,  and  of  the  brotherly  unity 
which  had  before  existed,  and  in  1866  addressed  an  af- 
fectionate epistle  of  caution  and  warning  to  their  breth- 
ren and  sisters  in  Ohio  on  the  subject;  but  received  no 
reply,  nor  anything  to  show  why  they  had  been  induced 
so  to  act. 

After  waiting  more  than  a  year,  without  receiving 
any  reply  to  their  epistle,  or  any  notice  of  the  reasons 
for  their  alienation,  the  General  Meeting  held  at  Falls- 
ington,  in  the  sixth  month,  1867,  again  addressed  them 
in  an  epistle  of  tender  and  serious  expostulation  on  the 
inconsistency  and  irregularity  of  their  course;  showing 
also  their  deep  solicitude,  "  that  the  enemy  of  all  true 
"  unity  in  Christ  Jesus  may  be  frustrated  in  his  attempts 
"  to  sow  discord  in  the  camp  of  Israel ;  whereby  he 
"would  overthrow  the  faith  of  some,  and  raise  a  stum- 


1867.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


339 


"  bling-block  and  occasion  to  fall,  in  the  way  of  the 
"  weak,  and  give  to  the  opponents  of  the  testimony  of 
"truth,  a  plea  for  glorying  over  the  afflicted  remnants 
"of  the  Lord's  people."  In  this  epistle  they  plainly 
demonstrated  to  them  how  inconsistent  their  present 
course  was  with  their  own  previously  declared  testimony 
for  gospel  order,  and  how  it  would,  if  persisted  in,  tend 
to  the  subversion  of  all  church  government  and  Chris- 
tian fellowship.* 

This  brotherly  appeal  and  expostulation  was  sent  to 
the  clerk,  addressed  to  the  General  Meeting  of  Ohio ; 
but  was  not  even  opened  by  him,  being  returned  by 
direction  of  that  meeting,  with  the  seal  unbroken,  ac- 
companied by  a  minute,  expressing  that  "a  paper  pur- 
porting to  be  an  epistle  from  the  General  Meeting  of 
Fallsington,"  had  heen  brought  before  the  view  of  their 
meeting — that  they  had  declined  to  read  it — and  that 
they  desired  the  writers  thereof  to  "  retract  and  con- 
demn" their  "action  :"  but  offering  no  explanation,  what 
"action"  was  to  be  condemned,  or  what  was  the  cause 
of  their  dissatisfaction. 

The  distress  that  was  brought  upon  friends  of  the 
General  Meeting  for  Pennsylvania,  etc.,  is  not  to  be  de- 
scribed in  words.  It  seemed  as  if  an  infatuation  pf  no 
common  character  had  suddenly  seized  upon  their  be- 
loved brethren  and  sisters  in  Ohio,  which  had  led  them, 
without  any  cause  given,  into  a  course  of  conduct  alto- 
gether unaccountable,  and  inconsistent  with  their  pre- 
viously expressed  sentiments. 

Six  months  after  issuing  the  above-mentioned  expos- 


*  An  Epistle  to  Ohio  General  Meeting,  on  Church  Government  and  Gospel 
Order,  etc.,  1867  ;  printed  in  Philadelphia,  1868,  page  5. 


340 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN     [oHAP.  XVI. 


tulatory  epistle,  the  General  Meeting  held  at  Fallsing- 
ton  received  it  hack  into  their  hands  unopened.  There 
did  not  appear  to  he  anything  more  now  to  he  done,  in 
the  way  of  endeavoring  to  reclaim  those  who  had  so 
grievously  gone  astray,  except  to  leave  them  to  the 
Lord.  But  a  duty  appeared  to  rest  upon  the  church,  to 
clear  itself  and  the  small  companies  with  which  it  was 
united,  from  the  reproach  that  might  attach  to  such  a 
course  of  disorder,  if  no  testimony  were  issued  against 
such  irregularities.  Whereupon,  after  sorrowful  delib- 
eration on  this  sad  condition  of  those  who  had  been 
formerly  looked  upon  as  brethren  and  sisters  in  a  testi- 
mony for  the  truth,  it  was  concluded  needful  to  place 
on  record  a  brief  statement  of  the  attempts  made  for 
their  restoration,  and,  seeing  these  had  now  proved  in- 
effectual, a  testimony  of  denial  of  further  fellowship 
with  them.    The  latter  is  thus  expressed : 

"In  consideration  of  these  sorrowful  departures  from  the 
"  uniform  practice  of  meetings  of  Friends  in  their  intercourse 
"one  with  another,  which  strike  at  the  foundations  of  all 
"church  government  and  gospel  order,  we  are  constrained  to 
"  testify  our  disunity  with  their  proceedings,  and  that  the 
"  meeting  which  still  claims  the  name  of  the  General  Meeting 
"  of  Friends  of  Ohio,  can  no  longer  be  acknowledged  by  us  as 
"  of  the  same  household  of  faith.  Yet  we  earnestly  desire  the 
"  preservation  of  the  honest-hearted  within  its  borders,  on 
"the  true  foundation,  on  which  alone  Christ  will  build  his 
"Church/' 

The  Monthly  Meeting  of  Salem,  in  Columbiana 
County,  had  not  gone  as  a  body  with  these  disaffected 
persons,  though  a  portion  of  its  members  were  among  the 
most  prominent  of  them.    The  rest  of  them  stood  their 


18G7.]  THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


341 


ground  against  this  disorder,  besides  a  few  scattered  in- 
dividuals in  other  parts  of  Ohio. 

The  following  copies  of  minutes  made  successively  by 
that  Monthly  Meeting*  show  the  tried  situation  into 
which  they  were  brought,  in  their  concern  to  sustain  the 
true  gospel  order  of  the  Society  against  deluded  and 
erring  brethren  ;  the  disorganizing  party  eventually 
separating  from  them,  and  carrying  up  that  separation 
to  their  General  Meeting,  which,  in  owning  the  party  of 
disorder,  opened  the  way  for  the  release  of  the  sound 
portion  of  the  Monthly  Meeting  of  Salem,  with  a  few 
in  other  parts  of  the  General  Meeting. 

Minute  of  fifth  mo.,  9i/i,  1867. — "On  account  of  the  disor- 
"derly  proceedings  of  a  disorganizing  party  in  this  meeting, 
"  Friends  remained  after  those  persons  had  withdrawn.  The 
"clerk  having  gone  out  with  them,  the  assistant  clerk  was 
"  requested  to  proceed  with  the  husiness  of  the  Monthly  Meet- 
"ing;  and  this  minute  being  read  and  united  with,  the  meet- 
"  ing  adjourned,  to  meet  again  on  Fourth-day,  the  fifteenth  of 
" the  month." 

Minute  of  ffth  mo.,  15th. — "Friends  [have]  been  brought 
"into  deep  trials  on  account  of  a  disorganizing  spirit  which 
"  has  for  some  time  prevailed  amongst  us,  and  of  late  to  such 
"an  extent  as  to  produce  disunity  with  all  those  meetings  of 
"Friends,  which,  when  this  meeting  was  established,  the 
"  General  Meeting  of  Obio  was  in  correspondence  with  ;  and 
"with  whom,  in  a  Testimony  issued  by  said  meeting,  in  1865, 
"it  is  stated,  '  we  were  closely  united  in  the  fellowship  of  the 
"gospel;'  but  now,  instead  thereof,  all  fellowship  and  cor- 
"  respondence  with  them  is  withdrawn,  the  disciplinary  action 
"of  their  meetings  disregarded,  persons  who  bave  been  dis- 
owned by  them  being  allowed  and  encouraged  to  sit  in  our 
"meetings  for  discipline.  One  of  those  persons,  having  been 
"an  approved  minister,  but  recently  disowned  by  the  Monthly 


*  Record  Book  of  Salem  Monthly  Meeting  of  Friends,  Ohio,  page  17,  etc. 


342 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN     [CHAP.  XVI. 


Meeting  of  which  he  was  a  member,  was  not  only  encour- 
aged to  sit  in  our  meetings  for  discipline,  but  was  furnished 
with  a  minute  acknowledging  him  as  acceptable  and  his 
services  edifying.  Another  disowned  person,  who  never 
had  been  a  member  of  a  select  meeting,  was  liberated  by 
minute  of  two  of  our  Monthly  Meetings,  to  pay  a  religious 
visit  to  the  families  constituting  them  ;  and  at  this  Monthly 
Meeting  disowned  persons  attempted  and  were  encouraged  to 
sit  in  our  meeting  for  discipline,  and  also  requested  to  have 
their  names  recorded  as  members  on  our  books,  which  was 
united  with  by  those  in  unity  with  them.  Such  gross  and 
repeated  violations  of  the  order  and  discipline  of  our  Society, 
Friends  bore  their  testimony  against ;  and  seeing  no  other 
way  to  maintain  that  order  and  discipline,  and  also  the 
unity  and  fellowship  with  those  meetings  which  we  were  in 
correspondence  with  when  this  Monthly  Meeting  was  estab- 
lished, but  to  endeavor  to  sustain  it  on  the  original  ground, 
after  the  disorganizing  party  had  withdrawn,  Friends  pro- 
ceeded with  the  business  of  the  Monthly  Meeting  so  far  as 
to  make  a  minute  showing  the  condition  in  which  this  meet- 
ing was  placed,  and  then  adjourned  to  the  fifteenth  of  the 
month,  when  the  foregoing  minute  was  read  and  adopted." 
Minute  of  ninth  month,  12th. — "  The  Representatives  to  the 
General  Meeting  made  the  following  Eeport,  which  is  ap- 
proved and  accepted  by  this  meeting  :  '  We,  the  representa- 
'tives  to  the  General  Meeting,  were  all  in  attendance  agree- 
'ably  to  appointment,  and  presented  to  that  meeting  the 
'  Reports  and  Statement  issued  by  this  as  directed  ;  but  that 
'  meeting,  under  a  profession  of  being  led  and  guided  by  the 
'  Spirit  of  Truth,  without  an  investigation,  rejected  them  as 
'  coming  from  a  spurious  meeting,  and  received  and  acted 
'  upon  the  Reports  of  the  separate  meeting  set  up  and  held 
'at  New  Garden.  Being  thus  cut  off  by  the  General  Meet- 
'  ing,  we,  with  other  friends  in  unity  with  the  action  of  this 
'  Monthly  Meeting,  met  together  to  endeavor  to  feel  after 
'  what  was  right  for  us  to  do  under  these  painful  circum- 
'  stances.  The  result  thereof  was,  that  it  was  our  duty  as  a 
'  portion  of  the  General  Meeting,  to  inform  those  meetings 


1867.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


343 


"'with  whom  we  have  heen  in  correspondence,  that  our 
"  'number  is  too  small  to  sustain  that  meeting  to  the  honor 
"  '  of  Truth.  A  brief  account  of  the  transactions  of  the  Gen- 
"'eral  Meeting  was  written,  a  copy  of  which  we  offer  this 
"  '  Monthly  Meeting  ;  which,  together  with  the  statement  be- 
"  'fore  mentioned,  was  placed  in  the  hands  of  a  few  friends 
"'to  copy  and  forward  to  the  several  meetings  with  which 
"  '  we  were  in  correspondence,  etc'  " 

"This  meeting,  taking  into  consideration  the  isolated  con- 
"  dition  in  which  rt  is  now  placed,  as  set  forth  in  the  report  of 
"the  representatives,  believed  it  right  at  this  time  to  appoint 
"  a  committee,  to  take  the  subject  into  consideration,  and  en- 
"  deavor  to  feel  after  the  propriety  of  taking  some  preparatory 
"steps  towards  a  recognition  of  this  by  some  one  of  those 
"superior  meetings  with  whom  we  have  fellowship.  Accord- 
"ingly  the  following  friends  were  appointed,  etc." 

Minute  of  eleventh  month,  13th. — "The  committee  ap- 
pointed in  ninth  month  last,  to  take  into  consideration  the 
"  propriety  of  taking  some  preparatory  steps  towards  a  rccog- 
"  nition  of  this  Monthly  Meeting  by  some  one  of  those  supe- 
"rior  meetings  with  whom  we  have  fellowship,  reported  that 
"after  solid  deliberation  on  the  subject,  they  believed  the  time 
"had  come  to  propose  to  the  Monthly  Meeting  the  propriety 
"of  applying  to  the  General  Meeting  of  Fallsington  for  their 
"recognition  thereof;  which  being  approved,  this  meeting 
"came  to  a  united  judgment  to  request  the  General  Meeting 
"  of  Fallsington  to  acknowledge  this  Monthly  Meeting  as  a 
"branch  of  that  body  ;  and  for  the  causes  which  have  placed 
"  us  in  our  present  position,  we  refer  that  meeting  to  a  state- 
"  ment  of  this  Monthly  Meeting  which  was  directed  by  a  por- 
"  tion  of  the  General  Meeting  of  Ohio  to  be  transmitted  to  the 
"  several  meetings  with  which  we  were  in  correspondence." 

The  above  application  was  received  and  solidly  con- 
sidered in  the  General  Meeting  held  at  Fallsington,  in 
the  twelfth  month,  1867.  Much  sympathy  was  felt 
and  expressed,  and  the  meeting  came  to  the  following 
conclusion  ;  a  conclusion  warranted  and  made  obligatory 


344 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN     [CHAP.  XVI. 


upon  thorn  as  brethren,  by  the  apostatizing  action  of  the 
Ohio  General  Meeting,  whereby  they  had  broken  off 
from  fellowship  with  all  the  other  Smaller  Bodies,  and 
left  in  an  isolated  state  the  members  of  Salem  Monthly 
Meeting,  and  a  few  in  other  parts  of  Ohio,  who  could 
not  unite  with  them  in  their  disorderly  course : 

"  Much  sympathy  has  been  expressed  in  this  meeting  with 
"our  dear  friends  in  Ohio  thus  situated,  and  we  greatly  desire 
"  their  encouragement  in  an  honest  and  faithful  discharge  of 
"the  responsibilities  now  resting  upon  them,  for  the  sustain- 
"  ing  of  the  testimonies  of  Truth  in  that  portion  of  the  herit- 
"  age.  And  in  view  of  the  extraordinary  circumstances  of  the 
"  case,  this  meeting  unites  with  the  proposal  of  Salem  Monthly 
"Meeting,  and  hereby  acknowledges  it  as  a  component  part 
"of  this  General  Meeting." 

As  to  the  rest  of  that  company  forming  the  General 
Meeting  of  Ohio,  though  they  still  professed  to  hold  the 
meeting,  they  gradually  became  more  and  more  con- 
fused and  estranged  from  Friends,  and  even  from  each 
other;  some  of  them  soon  discarded  all  discipline;  and 
several  of  the  most  prominent  of  them  became  dissatis- 
fied even  with  T.  Larnborn  himself,  in  sympathy  for 
whom  they  had  plunged  at  first  into  this  disorder;  and 
at  length  a  number  of  them  went  so  far  as  to  decline 
attending  their  own  meetings  for  worship  or  discipline. 
They  appear  indeed  at  present  like  sheep  having  no 
shepherd,  and  scattered  hither  and  thither  upon  the  dark 
mountains. 

Yet  there  has  been  a  gathering  back  of  some  few  of 
them,  of  latter  time;  and  it  is  much  to  be  desired  that 
still  others  may,  through  Divine  favor  and  help,  be  en- 
abled to  see  the  nature  of  their  wandering,  and  be  will- 
ing to  retrace  their  steps. 


1830.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


345 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

OPPOSITION  IN  ENGLAND  TO  THE  NEW  DOCTRINES — 
MEETINGS  ORGANIZED  THERE,  INDEPENDENT  OP 
THE  LAPSED  YEARLY  MEETING  OP  LONDON. 

Now  at  length  we  turn  back  to  Great  Britain,  which 
we  left  about  the  time  of  the  disastrous  liberation  of 
Joseph  John  Gurncy,  in  1837,  to  visit  America.  We 
have  seen  that  London  Yearly  Meeting  had  officially 
adopted  and  promulgated  at  least  one  of  his  erroneous 
sentiments,  and  that  a  very  important  one,  in  its  epistle 
of  1836.  During  his  absence  from  England,  and  after 
his  return,  the  new  principles  which  his  writings  had 
been  the  chief  means  of  developing  in  the  Society,  found 
plenty  of  advocates,  and  almost  everywhere  took  the 
place  of  the  ancient  principles  of  Friends,  producing  a 
corresponding  change  in  life  and  conduct.  There  were, 
however,  many  Friends  who  saw  their  contrariety  to  the 
views  of  those  who  had  always  been  considered  as  the 
instruments  employed  in  founding  the  Society,  and  some 
of  them  failed  not  to  testify  against  them  as  productive 
of  schism.* 

*  Notwithstanding  the  false  step  taken  by  London  Yearly  Meeting  in  IR36,  in 
its  declaration  regarding  the  Scriptures,  it  was  not  yet  prepared  to  allow  of  all 
manner  of  open  attacks  on  its  ancient  testimonies  in  its  own  presence.  In  18:58, 
William  Dll worth  Crcwdson,  of  Kendal,  who  had  formerly  been  clerk  of  the 
Yearly  Meeting,  undertook  to  defend  before  (he  Yearly  Meeting  the  conduct  of 
some  members  in  submitting  to  water-baptism,  endeavoring  to  show  that  Friends 
had  all  along  been  mistaken  in  their  views  of  the  non-necessity  of  this  rite.  He 

vol.  ii. — 30 


346 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN     [CHAP.  XVII. 


Among  the  most  faithful  of  these  advocates  of  our 
ancient  principles  in  that  day,  were  George  and  Ann 
Jones,  of  Stockport.  They  had  witnessed  the  devasta- 
tions produced  by  a  former  schism,  in  America,  and  had 
faithfully  testified  against  the  false  doctrines  of  Elias 
Hicks ;  and  now  they  plainly  perceived  the  approach  of 
a  storm  from  an  opposite  quarter,  and  warned  their 
friends  to  beware  of  it.  George  Jones  being  affected 
with  serious  illness  in  1839,  and  apparently  near  his 
dissolution  (though  he  subsequently  revived,  and  did 
not  depart  this  life  until  the  year  1841),  issued  in  manu- 
script an  Address  to  the  members  of  the  Yearly  Meet- 
ing of  Ministers  and  Elders,  as  his  conscientious  testi- 
mony and  warning  against  the  novel  views.  This 
testimony  is  as  follows  : 

"  Dear  Friends  : 

"  In  the  feelings,  as  I  apprehend,  of  the  pure  love  of  the 
"  truth,  it  seems  with  me  to  express  my  fervent  desire  that 
"those  things  which  tend  to  promote  our  peace,  and  things 
' '  whereby  we  may  edify  one  another,  may  prevail  in  our 
"  minds. 

"Some  of  you  know  that  I  manifested  my  concern  on  ac- 
" count  of  the  '  Morning  Meeting.'*  This  concern  still  re- 
"  maining  on  my  mind,  I  believe  it  right  to  communicate 
"something  further  on  the  subject.  It  feels  trying  to  me  to 
"have  thus  to  plead  with  my  friends  respecting  the  '  Morn- 
"  ing  Meeting  ;'  but  I  believe  I  must  say  it  has  been  a  great 
"  trouble,  both  to  me  and  to  many  other  Friends  who  love 

was  soon  checked  by  George  Stacey,  the  clerk  of  that  year,  ami  informed  that  he 
could  not  he  permitted,  in  that  meeting,  to  call  in  question  the  principles  of  the 
Society.  After  this,  however,  W.  D.  C.  again  rose  to  pursue  the  same  subject; 
whereupon  he  was  peremptorily  requested  hy  the  clerk  to  take  his  seat,  as  it 
was  clearly  out  of  order. 

*  The  body  then  having  the  oversight  of  intended  publications  relative  to  our 
religious  principles. 


1839.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


347 


"the  truth,  that  the  members  of  that  meeting  should  have 
"passed  such  things  as  they  have  done  in  J.  J.  G-urney's 
"writings,  in  his  work  entitled  'Religious  Peculiarities,' etc., 
"but  more  particularly  in  the  revised  edition  with  additions. 
"In  these  publications  there  is  much  that  I  consider  very 
"contrary  to  the  principles  and  doctrines  which  we,  as  a 
"  people,  make  profession  of,  and  which  we  fully  believe  to  be 
"consistent  with  the  Scriptures  of  truth.  Also  in  his  '  Es- 
"says  on  Christianity,' which  I  suppose  did  not  pass  the 
"  '  Morning  Meeting,'  there  is  much  that  is  objectionable.  In 
"this  publication  there  is  held  forth  that  which  Friends  and 
"many  others  have  declared  against  as  unsafe,  dangerous, 
"  and  unauthorized  by  the  Scriptures.  I  mean  the  speaking 
"of  the  Father  as  a  Person,  of  the  Son  as  a  Person,  and  of 
"  the  Holy  Spirit  as  a  Person.  There  are  several  extracts 
"from  Friends'  writings,  in  the  first  chapter  of  Thomas 
"Evans's  'Exposition  of  the  Faith  of  Friends,'  showing  the 
"  inconsistency  and  unscriptural  mode  of  so  speaking.  Rich- 
"ard  Claridge  has  also  written  a  tract,  giving  not  only  his 
"own  views  upon  it,  but  the  views  of  many  Friends  and 
"learned  authors  of  different  religious  denominations,  such, 
"for  instance,  as  Bishop  Burnett,  Calvin,  Luther,  Jeremy 
"Taylor,  Archbishops  Tillotson  and  Usher,  with  many 
"others,  whose  sentiments  are  well  worthy  of  our  attention. 

"The  injury  J.  J.  Gurney's  writings  have  done,  and  are 
"  still  likely  to  do,  to  our  Society,  and  to  the  cause  of  truth, 
"seems  to  me  to  be  very  great,  and  I  cannot  but  conclude 
"that  the  affectiouate  part,  and  the  wisdom  of  man,  must 
"have  prevailed  in  the  minds  of  the- members,  or  they  would 
"not  have  suffered  what  they  did  to  pass.  And  as  respects 
"  the  'Essays,'  did  not  that  work  require  the  attention  of  the 
"Meeting  for  Sufferings,  to  whom  is  entrusted  a  general 
"  care  of  whatever  may  arise  during  the  interval  of  the  Yearly 
"Meeting,  affecting  our  religious  Society,  and  requiring  its 
"immediate  attention  V  And  should  a  work  like  this,  so  op- 
"  posed  to  what  the  Society  has  always  maintained,  be  per- 
"  mitted  to  be  printed  and  published,  and  spread  extensively, 
"as  this  has  been,  by  any  member,  more  especially  by  one  in 


348 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN     [CHAP.  XVII. 


"  the  station  of  a  minister,  without  that  meeting's  declaring 
".against  it? — seeing,  moreover,  that  works  coming  from 
"such  an  one  may,  by  those  not  acquainted  with  our  prin- 
ciples, be  thought  consistent  with  them,  whilst  they  are 
"  quite  the  reverse.  It  is  my  fervent  desire,  that  Friends 
"  who  have  in  any  way  been  improperly  influenced,  may  be 
"  favored  to  submit  to  the  renewed  baptism  of  the  Holy  Spirit, 
"  that  so  the  Divine  Anointing,  which  alone  gives  clearness 
"of  vision,  may  be  afforded  them,  and  truth,  without  mix- 
uture,  supported  and  propagated. 

"  For  much  mixture,  and  consequently  much  weakness, 
"has  got  in,  and  has  for  some  years  prevailed  among  us. 
"  Otherwise  John  Wilkinson,  Elisha  Bates,  and  Anna  Braith- 
"  waite  would  not  have  been  allowed  to  travel  together,  to 
"hold  such  meetings,  and  to  propagate  such  sentiments 
"among  the  young  people,  as  they  have  done,  to  the  occa- 
sioning of  a  great  burden  and  deep  concern  in  the  minds  of 
"the  living  members,  where  such  meetings  have  been  held. 
"Neither  would  the  Yearly  Meeting  of  Ministers  and  Elders 
"  have  given  a  certificate  of  approval  of  Elisha  Bates's  preach- 
"  ing  ;*  which  act  was  also  a  grievous  burden  to  many  wcll- 
"  concerned  Friends. 

"These  things  have  rested  much  on  my  mind,  particularly 
"  during  my  present  illness  ;  and  it  must  be  very  evident  that 
"  J.  J.  Gurney's  interpretations  of  the  Scripture  are  so  con- 
"  trary  to  those  of  the  Society  from  its  first  commencement, 
"that  if  his  interpretations  are  to  prevail,  then  the  Society 
"  must  change  its  ground,  and  become  an  inconsistent  mix- 
"  ture  of  Quakerism  and  Episcopalianism.  This  I  believe  the 
"great  Head  of  the  church  will  never  permit ;  but  those  who 
"are  unfaithful  and  turn  aside,  and  prove  themselves  alto- 
gether unworthy  to  support  the  standard  and  testimonies 
"of  truth,  will  be  rejected  and  scattered,  whilst  others  will  be 
"brought  in,  and  prepared,  and  qualilied  to  unite  in  main- 
taining pure,  primitive  Christianity,  and  in  showing  forth 
"  the  Lord's  praise  among  the  nations. 

*  Mentioned  in  Vol.  I,  of  this  work,  page  255. 


1839.]  THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


349 


"These  things  deeply  impressed  and  afflicted  the  minds  of 
"  our  dear  friends,  Thomas  Shillitoe  and  John  Barclay,  who 
"are  in  mercy  gathered  to  their  everlasting  rest.  And  now, 
"in  thus  relieving  my  mind,  I  have  a  hope  I  shall,  through 
"the  unmerited  mercy"  of  God  in  Christ  Jesus,  he  favored  to 
"die  in  peace,  and  to  enter  one  of  those  mansions  which  our 
"  blessed  Lord  declared  he  went  before  to  prepare  for  his  fol- 
lowers; for  those  who  not  only  believe  in  his  outward  ap- 
"  pearance,  but  in  the  fulfilling  of  his  promise,  that  he  would 
"come  again,  and  that  he  who  was  with  them  should  be  in 
"them;  without  which  second  appearance,  and  faithful  fol- 
" lowing  of  Him  in  spirit,  and  submitting  to  his  purifying 
"power,  how  can  we  be  prepared  for  acceptance  with  him? 

"  In  looking  over  the  foregoing  address,  you,  my  friends, 
"are  afresh  brought  very  near  to  me.  with  feelings  of  fervent 
"desire,  that  we  may  not  be  of  the  number  of  the  'wise  and 
"prudent.'  from  whom  our  Lord  said  the  things  whereof  he 
"spake  were  hid  ;  but  rather  that  we  may  be  of  the  babes, 
"  unto  whom  the}'  are  revealed ;  having  our  dependence  on 
"our  Almighty  Father,  for  guidance,  preservation,  and  sup- 
"port,  in  the  way  to  the  kingdom  of  eternal  rest  and  peace. 
"  I  remain  your  sincere  friend, 

"  George  Jones." 

"Stockport,  9lh  of  fifth  mo.,  1839." 

After  his  decease,  B.  Scebolim  spread  a  report,  which 
was  widely  circulated,  that  George  Jones  had  subse- 
quently expressed  regret  at  having  given  forth  this 
testimonv  ;  whereupon  his  widow,  that  valiant  minister 
of  the  gospel,  Ann  Jones,  in  order  to  contradict  so  false 
a  statement,  gave  forth  in  manuscript  the  following 
testimony  for  the  truth  : 

"Stockport,  2">th  of  twelfth  nio.,  1845. 
"  It  is  very  painful  and  grievous  to  me  to  find  that  there  is 
"  in  circulation,  and  widely  spread,  a  report,  a,  false  report,  re- 
"  specting  my  dear  husband  ;  and  also  respecting  our  dear  aged 


350 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN     [CHAP.  XVII. 


friend,  Thos.  Shillitoe,  that  they  both  retracted  and  regret- 
ted the  plain  unequivocal  testimony  which  they  separately 
gave  forth,  for  the  clearing  of  their  own  minds  or  spirits, 
and  also  as  their  testimony  for  the  Truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus — 
stating-  that  J.  J.  G.'s  writings  are  not  in  accordance  with 
those  of  our  early  Friends.  Any  one  who  reads  and  com- 
pares them  must  know  this,  and  what  but  an  aversion  to 
receive  the  Truth  in  the  simplicity  and  love  of  it  can  occa- 
sion such  a  stir  and  attempt  to  make  a  thing  appear  what 
it  is  not?  Let  those  who  cry  out  about  the  harmony  and 
peace  of  the  Society  being  disturbed  or  broken  take  care  that 
they  are  not  found  among  the  sowers  of  discord.  My  dear 
husband  was  very  ill  in  the  beginning  of  183<J ;  neither  him- 
self nor  those  who  saw  him  expected  his  recovery.  On  look- 
ing towards  the  final  close,  his  spirit  became  increasingly 
oppressed,  in  considering  the  desolated,  backsliding,  worldly- 
minded  state  of  many  among  us,  which  he  believed  to  be 
very  much  owing  to  the  attempts  made  and  making  to 
modify  or  modernize  the  principles  and  practices  of  the 
Society.  In  this  state  he  could  not  get  any  rest  or  peace  of 
mind  until  he  had  employed  an  attendant  to  put  down  from 
his  dictation,  his  plain  unequivocal  testimony  to  the  Truth 
against  J.  J.  G.'s  writings  ;  this  done  he  was  easy  and  quiet, 
and  said  he  did  not  feel  anything  in  his  way.  Prom  that 
time,  unexpectedly  to  all  around  him,  he  recovered  ;  took  a 
lively  interest  in  the  affairs  and  welfare  of  the  Society  ; 
attended  the  Yearly  Meeting  in  1840.  George  Jones  lived 
till  twelfth  month,  1841.  In  the  time  he  had  many  oppor- 
tunities of  reading  and  reflecting  upon  what  he  had  written, 
which  was  invariably  satisfactory  and  relieving  to  him.  I 
am  not  afraid  to  say  and  give  it  under  my  hand,  that  he 
never  wravered  or  expressed  to  any  one  a  syllable  like  retract- 
ing or  regretting  having  written  and  circulated  as  he  did 
that  testimony  to  the  Truth  ;  so  far  from  that,  it  continued 
and  remained  to  be  a  relief  to  him  until  his  last  illness, 
when  he  had  nothing  to  do  but  peacefully  lay  down  his 
head  and  sleep  in  Jesus.    May  my  last  end  be  like  his  ! 

"  Ann  Jones." 


1840.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


351 


After  tins  was  circulated,  B.  Seebohm  acknowledged 
that  the  report  had  been  a  mistake. 

In  1840,  William  Gauntley  also,  a  friend  of  Bake- 
well  in  Derbyshire,*  addressed  the  following  letter  to 
the  Meeting  for  Sufferings,  of  London,  respecting  the 
unsound  doctrine  enunciated  by  the  Yearly  Meeting  in 
its  General  Epistle  of  1836,  in  relation  to  the  Holy 
Scriptures. f  But  it  was  not  even  read  by  that  body, 
though  the  subject  was  of  vital  moment  to  the  integrity 
of  the  Society. 

"  To  the  Meeting  for  Sufferings. 

"  Dear  Friends  :  I  address  you  upon  a  very  important 
"subject.  It  is  on  two  points  of  doctrine,  contained  in  a 
"paragraph  of  the  Yearly  Meeting  Epistle  of  183G,  relating 
"  to  the  Scriptures. 

"  The  first  part  of  that  paragraph  is  worded  thus  :  'Often 
"'as  our  religious  Society  has  declared  its  belief  in  the 
"'divine  authority  of  the  Holy  Scriptures,  and  upheld  the 
"  ;  sacred  volume  as  the  only  divinely  authorized  record  of  the 
"' doctrines  of  true  religion.'  .... 

"Now,  friends,  I  apprehend  this  passage  in  the  paragraph 
"  contains  a  word  which,  there,  is  not  only  contrary  to  the  truth 
"  itself,  but  contrary  to  fact :  for,  with  regard  to  the  fact,  I  do 


*  William  Oauntlry  was  a  worthy  elder  of  Balcewell,  wlio  camp  into  the  So- 
ciety through  couvincenient,  giving  up  many  outward  advantages  for  the  sake 
of  a  conscience  void  of  offence.  He  died  in  1SG0.  at  the  age  of  So  years.  "He 
was  zealously  concerned  to  hold  forth  the  doctrine  of  the  Holy  Spirit's  direct 
teaching;  being  very  jealous  of  any  sentiments  that  tended  to  obscure  a  belief 
in  this  paramount  Christian  privilege;  yet  he  truly  and  highly  esteemed  the 
Holy  Scriptures,  believing  them  to  be  given  for  our  instruction,  edification,  and 
comfort,  and  that  they  are  able  to  make  wise  unto  salvation,  through  faith 
which  is  in  Christ  Jesus."  He  "  deeply  lamented  the  many  specious  innovations 
witnessed  amongst  us  in  this  day  of  ease  and  outward  prosperity;  and  was  fre- 
quently engaged,  publicly  and  privately,  in  faithful  testimony  against  them. 
.  .  .  .  His  labors  in  this  respect  were  blessed,  and  contributed  to  sustain  the 
faithfulness  of  others." 

t  S.-t  Vol.  I,  page  305. 


352 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIEXDS  IN     [CHAP.  XVII. 


'not  believe  that  the  Society  has  often,  or  even  once  before 

•  upheld  the  sacred  volume  as  'the  only  divinely  authorized 
'record,'  etc.  It  is  possible  that  such  a  thing  may  have 
"happened  without  observation  by  myself;  but  I  am  fully 
'  persuaded  that  it  is  not  so.  I  have  been  a  member  of 
'the  Society  more  than  thirty  years.  I  have,  I  believe, 
'  read  every  Yearly  Meeting  Epistle  given  forth  in  that  time. 

'  I  have  also  read  works  of  those  ancient  worthy  friends, 
•Fox,  Penn,  Barclay,  and  others;  and  I  have  heard  testi- 
monies of  many  ministers  of  the  gospel  amongst  us;  but 
'in  all  that  time,  and  from  all  those  sources,  I  have  no  recol- 
'  lection  of  seeing  or  hearing  anything  of  the  like  import  as 
'that  which  is  conveyed  b\' the  word  lonh/'  in  connection 
•with  the  rest  of  the  passage  where  it  occurred,  neither  did  I 
'  expect  ever  to  see  or  hear  anything  of  the  kind  from  the  So- 
'  ciety  ;  because  I  am  fully  convinced  the  doctrine  is  unsound. 
;  I  am  not  the  onl}r  one  of  this  opinion  ;  for  there  are  several 

•  with  whom  I  am  acquainted,  who  take  the  same  view,  be- 
'lieving  the  assertion  to  be  groundless. 

"Again,  further  on,  in  the  same  paragraph,  we  find  these 
'  Avords  :  '  and  there  can  be  no  appeal  from  them  to  any  other 
'  authority  whatsoever ;'  and  again,  '  They  are  the  only 
''  divinely  authorized  record  of  the  doctrines  which  we  are 
'  'bound  as  Christians  to  believe,  and  of  the  moral  principles 
' 1  which  are  to  regulate  our  actions  ;  that  no  doctrine  which 
'  'is  not  contained  in  them  can  be  required  of  any  one  to  be 
' '  believed  as  an  article  of  faith.' 

"  Before  making  any  other  remark,  let  me  state  what  I  un- 
'  derstand  by  the  word,  '  Record.'  It  is  this,  'An  authentic 
'written  testimony." 

"  Xow  let  us  consider  the  souudness,  or  rather  the  unsound- 
ness of  the  doctrine  contained  in  the  aforesaid  paragraph. 
'  And,  first,  it  may  be  asked.  What  grounds  have  the  Friends, 
'  for  entertaining  and  promulgating  such  an  opinion  as  is  there 
'expressed  ?  Is  it  Divine  Revelation  ?  That  is,  Do  Friends 
"know  this  matter  by  divine  revelation,  and  write  by  that 
'  guidance  ?  If  it  were  so,  then  the  paragraph  itself  would  be 
'a  divinely  authorized  Record,  and  that  would  be  strikingly 


1840.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


353 


"  inconsistent  with  the  contents  of  the  paragraph,  find  a  tiling 
"  impossible.    Well  then.  Friends  cannot  take  that  ground. 

'■  We  have  next  the  Scriptures.  Can  such  a  doctrine  he  found 
"  in  them  V  Undoubtedly  not.  Ages  passed  away  from  begin- 
"  ning  to  end,  whilst  the  Scriptures  were  hy  parts,  from  time 
"to  time,  written  by  the  prophets  and  apostles,  or  ministers 
"  of  the  gospel ;  and  it  is  plain  that  none  of  all  these  could  de- 
clare, in  their  respective  days,  that  there  would  be  no  more 
"  '  divinely  authorized  records  '  written  after  they  had  written 
"  (unless  we  might  suppose  it  of  the  last  of  them)  ;  for,  a  full 
"contradiction  of  any  such  prediction  or  declaration  must 
"  have  been  the  consequence,  in  the  writing  of  every  successive 
"inspired  penman.  They  might  indeed,  if  it  had  been  the 
"divine  will,  have  foretold  and  fixed  the  period  when  divine 
"  writing  should  cease  ;  but  have  they  done  so  ?  Who  ever  saw 
"  in  the  Scripture  a  prophecy  or  declaration  to  the  effect,  that 
"from  and  after  such  a  time,  the  Almighty  would  no  longer 
"  authorize  any  writing  in  relation  to  '  the  doctrines  of  true 
"  religion  ?'  Nobody.  It  is  not  there.  And  if  not  there, 
"  then,  according  to  the  rule  laid  down  in  the  aforesaid  para- 
"  graph,  we  are  not  bound  as  Christians  to  believe  the  doctrine, 
"but  rather  to  disbelieve  it.  The  Scripture  then,  it  appears, 
"isntrf  a  ground  which  will  support  what  I  shall  call,  The 
"New  Opinion  of  Friends. 

"Having  shown  that  the  New  Opinion  of  Friends  cannot 
"be  sustained  on  either  of  the  two  distinct  grounds  before 
'•mentioned,  it  maybe  next  asked,  On  what  ground,  then, 
"  can  such  New  Opinion  be  supported  V  I  cannot  see  anything 
"else  for  it  but  this,  Their  own  understanding.  I  shall,  there- 
"  fore,  assume  that  to  be  the  case,  and  write  as  if  it  were  ac- 
"  tually  so. 

"I  say,  then,  Friends  have,  in  effect,  stated  upon  the 
"authority  merely  of  their  own  opinion,  that  there  posi- 
tively is  not  in  existence,  any  writing  of  divine  authority, 
'•except  what  is  at  present  bound  up  in  the  Bible.  Is  this 
"not  too  much  to  say  upon  such  limited  knowledge  V  Have 
"those  Friends  visited  every  nook  and  corner  of  the  world? 
"  Have  they  searched  every  library,  closet,  and  shelf  V  Have 


354 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN     [CHAP.  XVII. 


'  tlicy  turned  over  the  pages  of  ever}7  book  and  examined  every 
'paper?  All  this,  I  apprehend,  ought  to  be  done,  before 
'stating  the  matter  as  a  fact,  if  the  truth  of  it  be  to  rest  upon 
'  the  evidence  of  their  understanding,  unaided  by  divine  reve- 
1  lation. 

"  The  Friends  have,  indeed,  quoted  some  passages  of  Scrip* 
'  ture,  seemingly  for  the  purpose  of  confirming  their  view; 
'  that  is,  that  the  Scriptures  are  the  only  divinely  authorized 
'  record,  etc.,  and  that  there  can  be  no  appeal  from  them,  etc.  ; 
'  but  those  passages  do  nothing  like  that. 

'•  The  first  of  those  quotations  is  this  :  '  The  prophecy  came 
;' '  not  in  old  time  by  the  will  of  man  ;  but  holy  men  of  God 
;' '  spake  as  they  were  moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost.'  This  was 
'the  declaration  of  the  apostle  Peter,  and  we  believe  in  the 
'  truth  of  it.  Well,  but  does  this  declaration  of  Peter  regard- 
'iug  'old  time'  shut  the  mouths  of  'holy  men  of  God'  in 
;' after  time?  Nay,  surely,  for  Peter  himself,  as  well  as 
'others,  did  afterwards  write  those  things  which  the  Friends 
'say  are  of  divine  authority. 

"  The  next  of  those  quotations  is  from  the  apostle  John.  It 
'  is  this  :  '  These  are  written  that  ye  might  believe  that  Jesus 
' '  is  the  Christ,  the  Son  of  God ;  and  that  believing  ye  might 
1 '  have  life  through  his  name.'  Well,  then,  John  declared  he 
•wrote  that  they  might  believe;  but  he  did  not  say  that  no 
'more  should  be  written  for  the  like  purpose.  He  had  just 
'  before  written  thus :  '  And  many  other  signs  truly  did  Jesus 
'-'in  the  presence  of  his  disciples,  which  are  not  written  in  this 
;'  'book,'  and  then  follows  that  before  recited,  'but  these  are 
•written,1  etc.  And  again,  we  find  he  wrote  (21  :25),  'And 
•' '  there  are  also  many  other  things  which  Jesus  did,  the  which, 
;' '  if  they  should  be  written  eveiy  one,  I  suppose  that  even  the 
;' '  world  itself  could  not  contain  the  books  that  should  be 
' "  written. '  It  appears  by  this,  that  John  had  no  idea  of  any 
;'  limitation  to  divine  writing,  but  the  want  of  room  to  contain 
"  the  books  ;  so  we  may  go  to  the  next  quotation.  It  is  from 
'the  epistle  of  Paul  to  Timothy :  'From  a  child  thou  hast 
' 1  known  the  Holy  Scriptures,  which  are  able  to  make  thee 
"  '  wise  unto  salvation  through  faith  which  is  in  Christ  Jesus. 


1840.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


355 


"  'All  Scripture  is  given  by  inspiration  of  God,  and  is  profit- 
"  1  able  for  doctrine,  for  reproof,  for  correction,  for  instruction 
"'in  righteousness;  that  the  man  of  God  may  he  perfect, 
"  '  thoroughly  furnished  unto  all  good  works.'  '  Whatsoever 
"  1  things  were  written  aforetime  were  written  for  our  learn- 
'"ing,  that  we,  through  patience  and  comfort  of  the  Scrip- 
"  '  tures,  might  have  hope.' 

"By  these  texts  we  understand  that  the  apostle  Paul 
"wrote  to  Timothy,  saying  in  etlect,  that  the  Scriptures,  ex- 
utant  when  Timothy  was  «  child  (which  did  not,  in  all  proh- 
"  ability,  include  any  part  of  the  New  Testament,  and  cer- 
"tainly  not  the  epistle  Paul  was  writing),  were  able  to  make 
"him  wise  unto  salvation  through  faith,  and  were  for  perfect- 
ing the  man  of  God.  Well,  then,  if  those  Scriptures  could 
"do  so  much,  why  did  Paul  write  any  more  ?  No  doubt  he 
"  wrote  as  a  minister  of  the  Gospel,  to  promote  the  spreading 
"of  the  truth;  not  superfluously;  and  he  has  not  written 
"anything  from  which  we  can  infer  that  other  ministers  of 
"the  gospel  might  not  do  the  like.  Then,  if  his  writings  as 
"a  minister  of  the  gospel  are  considered  of  divine  authority, 
"why  shall  not  the  writings  of  any  other  minister  of  the  gos- 
"  pel,  as  such,  be  considered  the  same?*  I  am  convinced 
"  that  hitherto  nothing  is  found  to  favor  the  New  Opinion  of 
"  Friends. 

"  The  last  quotation  from  Scripture  on  this  subject  is  the 
"  words  of  (air  Blessed  Lord,  '  The  Scripture  cannot  he  bro- 
"  ken  !'  True  ;  hut  Avhat  then  ?  Can  there  he,  therefore,  no 
"more  divine  writings  ?  The  contrary  is  obviously  the  fact : 
"  for  this  saying  of  our  Blessed  Lord  related  exclusively  to 
"the  Scriptures  then  extant;  and  the  Friends  allow  that  more 
"  Scripture  was  afterwards  written  by  divine  authority. 

"And  now,  having  recited  and  considered  all  the  scriptural 
"quotations  made  by  the  Friends  upon  this  subject,  and 
"having  found  they  do  not,  in  the  least  degree,  sustain  the 
"expressed  opinion  of  the  Friends  relating  thereto;  which 

*  Not  llial  wo  would  by  any  means  put  our  own  writings  on  an  equality  witli 
the  Holy  Scriptures,  but  as  some  of  them  possessing  a  degree  of  the  same  au- 
thority. 


356 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN     [CHAP.  XVII. 


"opinion  is,  in  substance,  that  there  were  no  other,  and  were 
"to  be  no  more  divinely  authorized  records  besides  those  now 
"bound  up  together  in  the  Bible;  I  purpose  next  to  point 
"  out  something  that  has  been  said  of  a  contrary  tendency  by 
"him  who  was  first  of  all  called  'Quaker.'  (See  George 
"Fox's  Journal,  page  212.)  He  (George  Fox)  says  he  'was 
"  'sent,  in  the  name  and  power  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  to  preach 
"  '  again  the  everlasting  gospel.'  Page  88,  he  says,  'I  wrote 
" '  also  to  William  Lampitt,  the  priest  of  Ulverstone,  thus  : 
"'The  word  of  the  Lord  to  thee,  O  Lampitt!  a  deceiver, 
"  '  surfeited  and  drunk  witli  the  earthly  spirit,  rambling  up  and 
"  '  down  in  the  Scriptures,  and  blending  thy  spirit  amongst 
"  '  the  saints'  conditions.' 

"George  Fox  afterwards  said  in  the  same  letter,  twice,  'To 
"thee  tins  is  the  word  of  God'— and  once  after  again, 
"  '  When  the  eternal  condemnation  is  stretched  over  thee, 
'"thou  shalt  witness  this  to  be  the  word  of  the  Lord  God 
"  '  unto  thee.' 

"Besides  the  above,  George  Fox  wrote  another  epistle  to 
"  the  followers  of  Lampitt,  which  epistle  he  begins  with, 
"  'The  word  of  the  Lord  God  to  all  the  people  that  follow 
"  'Priest  Lampitt,  who  is  a  blind  guide.' 

"There  are  several  other  like  instances  in  George  Fox's 
"Journal;  but  these  are  enough  for  our  present  purpose. 
"  First,  then,  I  say  that  George  Fox's  Journal  is  a  Record; 
"that  is  to  say,  an  authentic  written  testimony  :  next,  that 
"it  contains  'doctrines  of  true  religion,' and  nothing  from 
"him  contrary  thereto.  Moreover,  he  says  that  what  he 
"wrote  as  above  referred  to  was  of  '  the  word  of  the  Lord.' 
"The  word  of  the  Lord  is  Dh-iue.  It  is  [of]  the  Holy  Spirit. 
"  Now,  then,  I  say,  that  which  George  Fox  wrote  then,  and 
"  which  has  been  handed  down  to  us,  is  a  divinely  authorized 
"record  of  doctrines  of  true  religion,  or  else  George  Fox  was 
"  an  impostor  ;  but  I  believe  him  to  have  been  truly  an  emi- 
"  nent  apostle. 

"Having,  perhaps,  dwelt  sufficiently  long  on  the  first  of  the 
"  two  points  of  doctrine  before  adverted  to,  I  now  come  to  the 


1840.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


357 


"second,  which  is  this:  'And  there  can  be  no  appeal  from 
"  '  them  to  any  other  authority  whatsoever.' 

"I  have  recollected  reading  aforetime,  and  have  now  read 
"in  the  fifteenth  chapter  of  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  an  ac- 
"  count  of  a  dispute  on  a  certain  point  of  doctrine.  I  find  not 
"  there  that  the  Scripture  only  was  the  authority  appealed  to  ; 
"but  that  in  the  first  place  it  was  determined  by  some  of  the 
"disputants  to  go  up  to  Jerusalem,  unto  the  apostles  and 
"elders,  about  the  question.  And  the  apostles  and  elders 
"came  together  for  to  consider  the  matter.  After  there  had 
"been  much  disputing  (notwithstanding  they  bad  the  Scrip- 
"  tures  of  that  day),  they,  that  is,  the  apostles,  and  elders, 
"and  brethren,  came  to  this  conclusion:  to  write  letters  to 
"  the  Gentile  brethren  ;  which  in  substance  were  this  :  That 
"  it  seemed  good  to  the  Holy  Ghost  and  to  them,  to  lay  upon 
"the  Gentile  brethren  no  greater  burden  than  certain  things 
"named  in  those  letters.  I  find,  then,  from  this  account, 
"that  the  appeal  came  to,  and  was  decided  ultimately  by  the 
"Holy  Ghost. 

"And  now  I  would  ask  Friends  this  question,  What  is 
'•  llmt  which  assures  you  the  Scriptures  are  true  ?  To  an- 
"  swer,  Paul  himself  said  so,  and  the  other  apostles  said  so, 
"  will  not  do  ;  for  the  false  prophets  would  vouch  for  their 
"falsehoods  in  that  way.  Jesus  said  (John  5  :  31,  32),  'If  I 
"'bear  witness  of  myself,  my  witness  is  not  true.  There  is 
"  'another  that  beareth  witness  of  me  ;  and  I  know  that  the 
"•witness  which  lie  witnesseth  of  me  is  true.'  Now  if  it 
"were  necessary  that  Jesus  himself  should  have  another  wit- 
"  ness,  it  surely  cannot  be  surprising  that  Paul  and  other 
"writers  should  need  also  another  witness  for  what  they 
"have  written  ;  and  that  that  witness  is  the  Holy  Spirit. 

"  I  do  not  desire  to  enlarge  upon  the  subject,  but  wish  to 
"leave  it  here  ;  only  desiring  that  if  possible,  this  blot  in  the 
"records  of  the  Society  may  lie  erased,  or  otherwise  so  dealt 
"with  as  to  cause  the  least  possible  damage. 

"W.  G." 

Of  similar  tenor  was  a  testimony  left  by  James  N. 
Richardson,  an  elder  of  Glenmore,  in  Ireland,  written  in 


358 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IX     [CHAP.  XVII. 


the  year  1846,  but  placed  by  him  in  the  hands  of  two  of 
his  friends,  three  days  before  his  decease,  in  1847.  In  the 
course  of  his  remarks  on  tlie  afflicting  condition  of  the 

Society,  he  says : 

"There  seems  arranged  so  much  talent,  so  much  wealth, 
"and  so  much  worldly  influence,  combined  with  holding  high 
"  stations  in  the  Church,  that  things  are  likely,  for  a  time,  to 
"be  carried  in  a  wrong  course.  These  new  views  are  agree- 
"able  to  the  people,  who  like  an  easy,  worldly  religion.  Pa- 
"  tient  waiting  exercise  is  irksome — does  not  suit  the  itching 
"ears — so,  instead  of  this  right  qualification,  waiting  to  be 
"  baptized  into  a  sense  of  the  state  of  meetings,  and  concerned 
"to  feel  the  renewal  of  divine  power,  the  people  are  fed  with 
"  the  mere  recital  of  the  truths  of  the  gospel,  and  given  to  rest 
"  in  an  assent  or  belief  in  the  ever  blessed  sacrifice,  and  what 
"our  dear  Lord  has  done  for  mankind  without  us.  By  this 
"  belief  they  are  taught  to  think  they  are  safe,  without  leading 
"  to  deep  searching  of  heart,  and  continued  watching  unto 
"prayer,  which  will  produce  good  works  or  fruits,  and  pro- 
"  gress  to  sanctification,  which  must  be  attained  before  we  are 
"in  a  capacity  to  witness  justification.  Hence  we  hear  (es- 
pecially in  England)  long,  lifeless  sermons,  calculated  to  fill 
"  the  head,  but  never  reach  the  heart.  Oh,  how  have  I  been 
"  tried  with  these  communications,  like  words  of  course,  all 
"  the  same  from  time  to  time,  till  the  mind  is  wearied,  and  the 
"  heart  that  is  panting  for  living  bread  is  sick ! " 

After  this,  he  proceeds  to  give  his  view  of  "  the 
heterodox  writings  of  Gurney  and  Ash,"  as  likely  to  be 
of  temporary  ascendency  only — (would  that  it  had  re- 
sulted so!) — and  his  belief, 

"That  the  testimonies  of  truth,  and  the  Christian  doctrines 
"given  to  this  people  to  bear,  will  not  be  allowed  to  fall  to 
"the  ground,  but  that  an  honest,  humble-minded,  simple 
"people  will  be  enabled  again  to  raise  the  standard  of  truth, 


1845.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


.359 


"and  to  promulgate  the  same,  and  carry  on  the  work  de- 
"  signed,  thus  marred  by  zeal  and  creaturely  activity." 

But  all  these  warnings  were  of  no  avail  with  the 
leaders  of  the  people. 

In  1845,  John  Wilbur,  having  published  in  America 
"  A  Narrative  and  Exposition  of  the  Proceedings  of 
New  England  Yearly  Meeting"  in  his  ease,  in  which 
the  ground  of  his  dissatisfaction  with  J.  J.  Gurney's 
writings  was  clearly  developed,  the  latter  addressed  a 
communication  to  the  editors  of  the  London  "  Friend" 
dated  twelfth  month,  17th,  of  that  year  (which  they 
published),  announcing  his  position  in  regard  to  the 
very  serious  charges  of  unsound  doctrine  in  his  writings, 
contained  in  John  Wilbur's  book.  But  strange  to  say, 
in  this  communication  J.  J.  Gurney  acknowledged  that 
he  had  not  read  John  Wilbur's  book,  and  did  not  en- 
tertain any  intention  of  replying  to  it,  as  he  should 
consider  that  he  was  "travelling  entirely  out  of  his 
record/'  .  .  .  .  "  having  long  had  reason  to  believe 
that  he  [John  Wilbur]  was  indulging  a  wrong  spirit, 
and  having  often  witnessed  the  verification  of  the  old 
proverb,  '  whoso  toneheth  pitch  shall  be  defiled  there- 
by?" After  this  exhibition  of  supercilious  contempt — 
as  if  aware  that  the  covering  was  too  short,  and  too 
transparent,  for  him  to  take  safe  refuge  under  it — he 
further  announced,  that  "  if  any  Friend  of  weight  and 
consistency"  would  furnish  him,  in  writing,  with  "such 
passages  as  may  be  deemed  unsatisfactory,"  he  would 
lay  such  communication  before  the  Morning  Meeting  in 
London,  and  in  case  of  their  not  being  satisfied  with  his 
explanations,  he  would  "  modify  them,  strike  them  out, 
or  even  publicly  renounce  them,  in  whole  or  in  part,  as 


300 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN     [dlAP.  XVII. 


the  meeting  may  think  proper  to  advise;"  adding,  bow- 
ever,  that  his  sentiments  on  essential  points  were  "  in  no 
degree  changed"  since  the  date  of  his  earliest  publica- 
tions; and  "nothing,  I  trust,  would  induce  me  to  sac- 
rifice one  particle  of  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus,  to  please 
or  satisfy  any  man  or  body  of  men  whatsoever."  In 
saying  this,  he  well  knew  that  an  abundance  of  passages 
proving  the  "  unsatisfactory "  tendency  of  his  writings 
had  been  already  adduced.  He  well  knew,  too,  that  he 
and  his  adherents  held  the  helm  of  the  Morning  Meet- 
ing, and  that  they  would  by  no  means  condemn  any 
doctrine  which  he  earnestly  advocated.  He  knew  also 
full  well,  that  with  the  tacit  connivance  of  that  Morning 
Meeting,  he  had  charged  the  early  authors  in  the  Society 
with  "serious  errors"  in  their  interpretation  of  "  the 
truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus."  But  as  to  John  Wilbur's  book, 
and  the  exposures  therein  contained  of  his  own  palpable 
errors,  and  of  the  gross  outrages  committed  by  his  fol- 
lowers in  New  England  in  his  defence,  it  is  probable 
that  he  prudently  thought,  the  less  said  the  better. 

About  the  same  time,  or  shortly  after,  John  Wilbur's 
"Narrative  and  Exposition"  was  attacked  in  a  pamph- 
let entitled  "Calumny  Refuted,  or  a  Glance  at  John 
Wilbur's  Book  ;"said  to  have  been  prepared  in  Burling- 
ton, N.  J.,  by  three  of  J.  J.  Gurney's  female  admirers, 
but  sent  over  to  England  to  be  published.  As  the  main 
point  of  attack  was  the  Contrast  of  Doctrines,  contained 
in  the  "Narrative  and  Exposition,"  the  original  writer 
of  that  Contrast  replied  to  this  attack  in  a  tract  of  47 
pages,  also  first  published  in  England,  in  1846,  and 
afterwards  in  Philadelphia,  entitled,  "  Is  it  Calumny,  or 
is  it  Truth?"  in  which  the  false  positions  of  the  authors 


1847.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


361 


of  "Calumny  Refuted"  were  exposed,  the  Contrast 
was  reprinted  in  full,  and  defended  from  their  animad- 
versions, and  fresh  proof  was  given  of  the  fundamental 
unsoundness  of  Gurney's  writings. 

The  next  year,  as  we  have  already  noticed  in  the 
ninth  chapter,  J.  J.  Gurney,  partly  to  serve  a  legal  pur- 
pose in  America — where  unhappily  a  suit  was  pending, 
respecting  some  property,  in  one  of  the  courts  of  New 
England — and  partly,  it  is  supposed,  in  consequence  of 
representations  of  the  necessity  of  doing  something  to 
satisfy  many  even  among  his  own  adherents,  issued  a 
Declaration  of  faith,  signed  by  himself  and  attested  by 
the  mayor  of  Norwich  and  two  justices  of  the  peace. 
This  document,  however  flimsy  a  veil,  was  eagerly 
seized,  widely  circulated  over  America,  and  implicitly 
believed  to  be  sufficient  proof  of  his  soundness  in  the 
faith.* 

Joseph  John  Gurney  died  in  1847,  in  the  fifty-ninth 
year  of  his  age.  The  Yearly  Meeting  of  London  after- 
wards approved  and  adopted  for  publication  the  testi- 
mony of  Norwich  Monthly  Meeting  concerning  him,  in 
which  the  statement  was  made,  that  from  his  twenty- 
fourth  year,  "  he  maintained  with  holy  boldness  the 
principles  and  testimonies  of  the  Society,  through  the 
remainder  of  his  life and  their  belief  was  expressed, 
in  reference  to  his  published  writings,  "  that  in  these 
undertakings,  as  in  every  other,  he  was  actuated  by  a 
sincere  desire  to  promote  the  glory  of  God,  and  the  wel- 
fare of  his  fellow-men  ;  and  at  the  same  time  to  main- 
tain, with  unflinching  integrity,  '  the  truth  as  it  is  in 

*  Of  its  deficiency  herein,  see  page  U7  of  this  volume. 
VOL.  II.  — 31 


362 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN     [CHAP.  XVII. 


Jesus.'  "  In  regard  to  his  ministry,  their  testimony 
was,  that  "  he  evinced  a  firm  attachment  to  the  princi- 
ples of  our  religious  Society,  and  a  deep  concern  for  the 
upholding  of  all  its  testimonies!"  Surely  these  were 
emphatic  expressions,  made  in  deliberate  and  chosen 
language;  and  the  Yearly  Meeting  of  London,  in  in- 
dorsing such  declarations  without  qualification  or  abate- 
ment, became,  without  room  for  question,  equally  ac- 
countable for  his  doctrines — equally  involved  in  an 
acknowledgment  of  unity  with  them — as  was  the  Green 
Street  Yearly  Meeting  of  the  disciples  of  Elias  Hicks, 
in  regard  to  his  infidel  views,  when  they  recorded  his 
presence  in  their  assembly,  with  an  expression  of  unity 
with  him  as  a  minister.  We  know  that  in  this  instance 
the  record  made  on  the  occasion  was  considered  by 
Friends  generally  as  unquestionable  proof  of  their  fel- 
lowship with  him  in  his  well-known  doctrines. 

London  Yearly  Meeting  continued  to  liberate  for  visit- 
ing the  United  States,  ministers  who  fraternized  with 
the  advocates  of  innovation,  and  thus  encouraged  the 
revolution  which  had  spread  from  within  its  own  borders 
over  the  whole  surface  of  the  Society.  And  in  all  cases 
of  separation  which  occurred  as  a  result  of  this  revolu- 
tion, from  that  of  New  England  downward,  the  avowed 
sympathies  of  London  Yearly  Meeting  were  with  the 
promoters  of  innovation.  The  plea  made  use  of  at  first, 
was,  that  they  must  acknowledge  the  main  body  with 
the  old  clerks,  correspondents,  etc. ;  but  when  the  separ- 
ation occurred  in  Ohio  in  1854,  this  plea  did  not  suit; 
as  the  party  attached  to  J.  J.  Gurney,  who  marie  that 
separation,  were  greatly  and  obviously  in  the  minority, 
and  had,  in  an  irregular  manner,  appointed  another 


1855.]  THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


3G3 


clerk  ;  so  that  London  Yearly  Meeting  disregarded  their 
former  plea,  and  acknowledged  even  the  Smaller  Body 
in  this  case,  because  this  body  was  composed  of  their 
real  brethren,  advocating  the  same  new  principles  and 
practices. 

One  year  rolled  over  another,  adding  to  the  mass  of 
change  in  the  character  of  the  Society.  In  some  of  the 
large  meetings  in  England,  very  few  indeed  could  be 
recognized  by  their  appearance  as  professing  to  be 
Friends.  Large  numbers,  not  only  of  the  private  mem- 
bers, but  also  of  the  ministers,  elders,  and  overseers,  had 
ceased  to  appear  in  the  plain,  simple  garb  of  Friends, 
and  could  not  be  distinguished  from  the  people  of  the 
world,  either  in  their  dress,  their  language,  or  their  man- 
ners. The  "offence  of  the  cross"  seemed  also  to  have 
ceased,  in  regard  to  the  adornment  of  their  habitations. 
Simplicity  and  self-denial  herein  had  become  obsolete 
terms  with  the  great  bulk  of  those  who  had  the  means 
of  gratifying  "the  lust  of  the  eye  and  the  pride  of  life." 
Indeed,  the  endeavor  seemed  to  be,  with  very  many,  to 
advance  as  near  to  the  rest  of  the  world  as  could  possi- 
bly be  done  with  any  decent  degree  of  decorum.  And 
not  only  had  the  self- activity,  inculcated  by  the  new 
system,  piled  up  a  vast  amount  of  work  to  be  done,  un- 
der the  guise  of  "doing  God  service,"  "working  for 
Jesus,"  and  "  leading  souls  to  Christ,"  in  the  way  of 
meetings  and  associations  of  young  and  inexperienced 
persons  for  this  or  for  that  (yet  with  little  qualification  for 
the  Lord's  work),  in  imitation  of  high  professors  of  other 
names  and  other  systems  of  action  ;*  but  the  same  spirit 

*  In  mentioning  these  things,  it  is  by  no  means  the  author's  intention  to  dis- 
courage good  works,  which  have  always  characterized  or  accompanied  a  living 


364  THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN     [CHAP.  XVII. 


invaded  the  meetings  for  worship,  with  a  mushroom 
growth  of  spurious  ministry,  from  parties  who  had  never 
fully  submitted  to  the  fire  of  the  Lord's  jealousy, 
thoroughly  to  purge  the  floor  of  their  souls,  nor  were  at 
all  prepared  to  advocate  his  precious  cause,  and  speak 
of  the  mysteries  of  his  kingdom  to  the  people.  The 
stream  was  as  shallow  as  its  source  was  superficial,  and 
could  be  no  other  than  burdensome  to  the  living  and 
panting  soul,  longing  to  be  led,  fed,  and  taught  by  Him 
who  now  teacheth  his  people  himself.  The  ministry  of 
even  many  who  had  once  been  rightly  qualified  and 
anointed  for  the  work,  now  descended  to  a  lower  level, 
and  became  dry  and  lifeless,  in  their  attempts  to  accom- 
modate themselves  to  the  new  state  of  things;  or  flow- 
ery and  fulsome,  with  an  eye  to  catch  the  natural  affec- 
tions of  the  unregenerate,  and  attach  them  to  the  speaker, 
rather  than  laboring  to  lead  them  to  that  "  baptism 
which  now  saveth,"  or  to  the  "washing  of  regeneration" 
and  "fuel  of  fire,"  which  would  indeed  purify  the  soul. 

Was  the  real  welfare  of  the  flock  in  any  way  promoted 
by  such  a  change?  It  may  safely  be  answered  that  this 
was  not  the  case,  but  sadly  the  reverse.  With  many  of 
the  young  and  inexperienced,  and  even  some  of  riper 
years,  the  natural  result  was,  that  superficialness  and 

faith.  Much  good,  much  alleviation  of  the  evils  attending  unregenerate  man- 
kind, and  much  increase  of  true  knowledge  of  the  wonders  of  nature  and  art, 
have  been  the  result  of  human  intelligence  and  industry.  The  objection  is  not 
to  works  of  charity  or  benevolence,  or  to  a  watchful  union  with  our  fellow- 
citizens  in  such  efforts  as  tend  to  the  amelioration  or  substantial  improvement 
of  the  condition  of  man  ;  but.  to  the  substitution  of  a  system  of  will-worship,  and 
self-activity,  and  excitement,  instead  of  the  thorough  heart-searching,  and  heart- 
cleansing,  and  humiliating  work  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  which  is  the  characteristic 
of  true  Quakerism,  or  true  and  pure  Christianity,  the  result  of  truly  bearing  the 
cross  of  Christ,  and  the  groundwork  of  all  good  works  available  for  our  own 
salvatiou. 


1850.]  THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY.  »365 


flippant  talkativeness,  self-confidence  and  self-activity, 
were  substituted  for  that  true  humility  and  lowly  de- 
pendence of  spirit  on  the  Lord  for  every  supply  of 
strength,  which  had  given  so  marked  a  character  to  the 
members  of  our  Society  in  former  days,  that  their  gen- 
eral demeanor  plainly  testified  that  "they  had  been  with 
Jesus."  William  Penn  said  that  "by  the  power  and 
Spirit  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  they  became  very  fruitful  .... 
were  diligent  to  plant  and  to  water,  and  the  Lord  blessed 
their  labors  with  an  exceeding  great  increase  .... 
bringing  people  to  a  weighty,  serious,  and  godlike  con- 
versation." But  as  it  had  now  become  very  easy  to 
assume  the  office  of  a  minister,  and  much  of  the  minis- 
try, whether  in  preaching  or  prayer,  had  become  thus 
lifeless,  wordy,  and  burdensome  to  the  souls  of  the 
living;  so,  on  the  other  hand,  the  new  views  had  in 
many  places  invaded  the  seat  of  judgment,  and  produced 
so  great  a  lack  of  inwardness  of  spirit  among  the  Elders, 
that  little  qualification  was  manifested  for  a  right  dis- 
cernment between  true  gospel  ministry  and  that  which 
was  spurious.  The  consequence  was,  that  almost  any 
one  with  fluency  of  speech  and  an  educational  knowl- 
edge of  the  Bible,  taking  care  to  preach  the  popular 
doctrines,  could  be  recognized  as  a  minister,  and  sent 
forth  abroad  as  such,  to  the  increasing  delusion  and  be- 
wilderment of  the  youth,  and  the  stumbling  of  honest- 
hearted  inquirers  and  seekers  after  the  Truth. 

Floods  of  books  and  pamphlets  were  likewise  issued 
from  year  to  year,  the  tendency  of  which  was  to  alienate 
from  a  due  esteem  of  the  principles  and  testimonies  of 
truth  as  held  and  professed  by  our  forefathers.  In 
many  of  these,  false  doctrines  were  boldly  asserted,  and 


3G6 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  1ST 


[CHAP.  XVII. 


yet  no  check  was  applied  by  those  whose  station  in  the 
body  laid  the  duty  upon  them  of  guarding  the  members 
from  being  turned  aside  by  insidious  and  unsound  pub- 
lications. 

The  increase  of  such  books  and  pamphlets  for  a  long 
series  of  years  after  the  general  spread  of  J.  J.  Gurney's 
publications,  was  truly  astonishing.  Their  flow,  indeed, 
was  so  overwhelming  in  its  extent,  and  they  were  put 
forth  so  confidently,  that  it  seemed  as  if  their  authors 
could  afford  to  ignore  the  few  attempts  made  from  time 
to  time  by  honest-hearted  Friends,  to  contradict  them  or 
counteract  their  influence.  And  one  tiling  that  made 
them  additionally  insidious  was,  that  while  they  under- 
mined the  ancient  profession  of  our  faith,  they  were 
careful  to  build  the  sepulchres  of  the  righteous,  keeping 
up  a  constant  strain  of  laudation  of  our  ancient  worthies 
as  zealous  and  almost  heroic  reformers,  while  pulling 
down  their  most  cherished  Christian  principles. 

Their  chief  specific  aim  was  to  procure  a  repudiation 
of  Robert  Barclay's  "  Apology."  This  great  work, 
which  had  been  freely  acknowledged  by  the  Society  for 
nearly  two  hundred  years,  as  embodying  a  correct  de- 
velopment of  the  doctrines  of  the  Christian  religion,  was 
now  an  object  of  continual  attack,  both  by  ministers 
and  private  members,  in  high-flown  but  vapid  and  su- 
perficial publications,  very  pleasing  to  the  popular  ear; 
yet  no  disciplinary  check  was  placed  upon  these  attacks, 
nor  any  official  attempt  made  by  the  body  to  sustain  the 
standing  which  had  hitherto  been  accorded  to  that 
sound  and  eminent  author. 

Edward  Ash,  Robert  Charleton,  Robert  Also}),  and 
other  assailants  of  the  views  expressed  so  clearly  in 


1850.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


367 


Robert  Barclay's  "  Apology,"  at  length  succeeded  in 
their  attempts  to  promote  a  practical  repudiation  of  it 
by  the  authorities  of  London  Yearly  Meeting. 

This  repudiation  of  Barclay  was  to  have  been  ex- 
pected, from  the  changes  which  were  taking  place,  not 
only  in  doctrines  but  in  practice  also  to  a  very  wide  extent. 
It  would  be  a  wearisome  task  to  go  over  all  the  depar- 
tures from  our  Christian  testimonies  which  have  ob- 
tained prevalency  within  the  thirty-five  years  following 
J.  J.  Gurney's  visit  to  America;  changes  whereby  the 
cross  of  Christ  is  effectually  evaded,  and  the  spirit  of 
the  world  and  of  uncrueified  self  installed  in  authority 
in  its  stead,  through  most  of  the  meetings  in  England, 
and  consequently  in  America  also.  The  departures  from 
our  ancient  simplicity  in  manners,  dress,  and  language, 
and  from  the  restraints  of  the  cross  in  daily  life  and 
conversation,  and  in  the  houses,  furniture,  and  general 
style  of  living  of  many  thousands  of  the  members;  de- 
partures from  a  constant  waiting  at  Wisdom's  gate  for 
daily  spiritual  instruction  and  guidance,  whereby  the 
soul  is  seasoned  and  tendered,  and  kept  susceptible  to 
the  secret  monitions  of  divine  grace;  departures  from 
our  well-known  simple  style  of  building  and  furnishing 
meeting-houses  (in  some  instances  introducing  even  the 
embellishment  of  towers  or  an  approach  to  the  form  of 
steeples  outside,  and  various  ornamental  work  inside); 
departures  into  the  incitements  of  false  devotion  by  the 
encouragement  given  to  reading  the  Scriptures  and  sing- 
ing hymns  in  meetings  for  worship,  and  a  vast  array  of 
self-active  ministry,  and  even  partaking  of  the  practices 
of  popular  revival  meetings  and  other  artificial  excite- 
ments, in  the  place  of  a  real  breathing  of  the  soul  unto 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN     [CHAP.  XVII. 


God,  and  humble  waiting  and  watching  unto  prayer  at 
His  footstool  ;  all  these  and  many  more  such  changes 
are  far  too  numerous  to  he  here  particularized,  but  are 
sorrowfully  apparent  to  the  world.*  They  were,  how- 
ever, not  the  primary  departures,  or  main  characteristics 
of  the  apostasy,  as  they  have  sometimes  of  late  been 
treated  by  temporizers,  but  were  the  legitimate  fruits  of 
the  fundamental  departure  from  the  primitive  doctrines 
of  Friends  ;  and  the  unsound  doctrines  of  J.  J.  Gurney, 
etc.,  were  their  motive  power. 

In  the  autumn  of  1853,  John  Wilbur,  of  Rhode  Island, 
crossed  the  ocean  on  a  second  religious  visit  to  Great 
Britain,  with  certificates  of  the  unity  of  his  Monthlv, 
Quarterly,  and  Select  Yearly  Meetings.  These,  however, 
being  from  the  "Smaller  Body,"  were  not  likely  to  be 
accepted  by  the  authorities  of  the  Society  in  England; 
and  accordingly,  on  his  arrival  in  that  land,  he  was 
promptly  confronted  by  a  prohibition,  on  the  part  of 
the  Meeting  for  Sufferings,  of  his  proceeding  in  the 
prosecution  of  his  service.  Indeed  he  soon  found  (what 
he  had  probably  anticipated)  that  nearly  all  the  leaders 
of  the  people  had  joined  in  with  the  advocates  of  the 

*  A  remarkable  instance  of  tlie  extent  to  which  some  of  the  Gurney  bodies 
have  already  gone,  in  adopting  a  system  of  excitement  of  feeling  as  a  substitute 
for  that  worship  which  is  in  Spirit  and  in  Truth,  accompanied  by  real  abascd- 
ness  of  self,  is  to  be  seen  described  in  a  communication  signed  W.  T.  P.,  and 
headed,  "Glorious  Work  at  Richmond,"  in  the  "  Christian  standard  and  Jfame 
Journal,"  of  tenth  mouth  16th,  1875,  published  in  Philadelphia.  The  writer  of  it, 
who  was  pn  sent  at  the  First-day  morning  meeting  during  the  Yearly  Meeting  of 
Indiana,  at  Richmond,  asserts  that  "nearly  or  quite  three  hundred  individual 
testimonies  were  given  in  the  space  of  ninety  minutes  I" — mostly  to  the  power  of 
the  outward  blood  alone  for  sanctification  ;  adding,  "It  was  a  hallowed  time — 
....  an  elaborate  box  of  flagrant  perfume  "—and  that  "this  meeting  was  a 
type  of  all  those  held  at  the  morning  hour."  It  struck  the  writer  of  the  com- 
munication as  resembling  "one  of  our  best  love-feasts  at  a  National  Camp  Meet- 
ing." A  writer  in  another  paper  mentions  the  frequent  singing  and  reading  of 
the  Bible  which  took  place  during  the  meetings  for  worship  on  that  occasion. 


1853.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


369 


new  views,  and  were  inclined  to  oppose  him  openly. 
Yet  in  various  places  throughout  that  country  he  met 
with  quite  a  number  of  sympathizing  Friends,  who  were 
glad  to  welcome  him  among  them,  and  to  extend  the 
hand  of  fellowship,  in  a  mutual  sense  of  the  oppression 
of  the  seed  of  life  by  the  hands  of  false  brethren.  At 
Manchester,  on  his  way  to  London,  that  valiant  woman 
for  the  truth,  Lydia  Ann  Barclay,  sister  of  John  Barclay 
(who  had  deceased  on  the  11th  of  fifth  month,  1838), 
met  him,  and  greatly  encouraged  him  by  her  counsel 
and  help,  having  travelled  from  Aberdeen,  in  Scotland, 
for  the  satisfaction  of  meeting  with  him  and  cheering 
him  on  his  way.  A  number  of  other  Friends  also  here 
showed  their  unity  with  him,  and  "appeared  resolved 
to  hold  fast  to  sound  doctrines."  In  a  letter  written 
shortly  afterwards,  describing  the  precious  opportunities 
they  had  with  him  at  Manchester,  Lydia  A.  Barclay 
said  :  "There  was  a  feeling  of  the  dear  Master's  presence 
and  power  over  and  among  us,  that  cemented  and 
strengthened  us  together;"  adding,  that  "Friends  must 
have  been  quite  unprepared  (by  the  many  evil  reports 
spread  latterly  against  him)  to  see  such  a  sweet  placid- 
looking  old  patriarch,  so  humble  and  unobtrusive." 

The  day  after  his  arrival  in  London,  he  was  called 
upon  by  two  members  of  the  Meeting  for  Sufferings,  to 
dissuade  him  from  prosecuting  his  concern;  letting  him 
know  that  if  he  attempted  to  speak  in  any  of  their  meet- 
ings, the  audience  would  be  informed,  at  the  close,  that 
he  was  not  a  member  of  the  Society.  To  this  he  replied, 
that  according  to  their  Discipline  as  well  as  that  of  New 
England,  if  a  persou  has  been  dealt  with  and  disowned 
contrary  to  the  Discipline,  his  right  of  membership  is 
vol.  ii. — 32 


370  THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN     [CHAP.  XVII. 


not  annulled  or  prejudiced  thereby ;  and  that  Philadel- 
phia Yearly  Meeting  had  clearly  shown  that  his  disown- 
ment  was  palpably  at  variance  with  the  Discipline.  But 
this,  and  other  plain  reasoning  laid  before  them,  was  of 
no  avail.  On  their  asking  him  what  was  his  prospect 
of  service  in  that  land,  he  replied  that  it  was  "to  visit 
the  meetings  of  Friends,  and  to  appoint  some  among 
other  people ;  not  with  any  view  to  stir  up  strife,  but,  if 
required  by  his  Divine  Master,  to  preach  the  doctrines 
of  true  Christianity,  believed  and  practised  by  our  first 
Friends,  and  demonstrated  in  their  writings  to  be  the 
true  Christian  doctrines  as  set  forth  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment." 

Two  days  afterwards,  by  their  request,  he  met  a  com- 
mittee of  eight  members  of  the  Meeting  for  Sufferings 
in  London.  This  interview  was  of  the  same  character 
as  the  previous  one,  but  afforded  John  Wilbur  an  en- 
larged opportunity  of  clearly  advocating  his  right  to  be 
considered  and  treated  as  a  member  of  the  Society  of 
Friends;  but  all  to  no  purpose.  He  plainly  told  the 
committee,  that  if  they  carried  out  the  conclusion  come 
to,  of  publicly  saying  in  the  meetings  that  he  was  not  a 
member  of  the  Society,  he  should  be  under  the  necessity 
of  explaining,  in  some  way  or  other,  to  Friends  in  that 
country,  the  whole  affair  of  his  pretended  disownment. 

Subsequently,  he  travelled  through  various  parts  of 
England,  attending  the  meetings  as  they  came  in  course, 
and  in  many  places  having  an  open  time  and  good  ser- 
vice in  the  ministry.  At  some  of  these  opportunities 
the  people  were  told  that  he  was  not  a  member  of  the 
Society ;  but  in  many  places  no  such  open  opposition 
was  manifested. 


1853.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CEXTURY. 


371 


On  the  4th  of  the  eleventh  month,  the  Meeting  for 
Sufferings  met  in  London,  and  issued  a  minute  to  Friends 
in  different  parts  of'the  nation,  informing  them  that 
John' Wilbur  was  not  a  member,  and  eautioning  them 
to  "  carefully  refrain  from  admitting  him  into  their  meet- 
ings for  discipline,  or  accepting  him,  either  in  meetings 
or  in  their  families,  in  the  character  of  a  minister."* 

After  this,  John  Wilbur  was  engaged  for  several  days 
in  attending  meetings  and  visiting  Friends  in  and  about 
London  ;  and  then  went  into  various  parts  of  the  king- 
dom, attending  the  meetings  for  worship,  and  holding 
some  public  appointed  meetings. 

In  the  twelfth  month,  he  issued  from  Manchester  a 
printed  Circular,  in  form  of  a  letter  addressed  to  the 
members  in  most  parts  of  the  nation,  as  a  reply  to  the 
false  representations  under  which  the  Meeting  for  Suf- 
ferings had  prohibited  his  being  received  as  a  member 
of  the  Society,  and  showing  the  fallacy  of  the  grounds 
on  which  they  were  proceeding.  After  developing  the 
unjust  and  defective  character  of  the  judgment  of  Lon- 
don Yearly  Meeting  in  regard  to  New  England,  and 
showing  that  it  was  because  of  a  unity  in  doctrine  with 
the  Seceders  of  New  England,  that  they  had  fraternized 
with  them  without  any  examination  into  the  merits  of 
the  case,  and  condemned  those  holding  to  the  ancient 
principles,  as  Separatists,  he  went  on  to  say  : 

"Under  present  circumstances  it  is  more  easy  to  my  mind 
"not  to  attend  any  meetings  for  discipline  under  the  control 
"of  those  holding  unsound  views;  my  concern  here  rather  is, 
"  to  inculcate  the  doctrines  of  Friends,  and  to  impress  them 


*  For  this  Document,  see  "The  Journal  and  Correspondence  of  John  Wil- 
bur," Providence,  1S59,  page  525. 


372 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN     [CHAP.  XVII. 


"upon  the  minds  of  those  I  meet  with  ;  because  there  has  never 
"  been  any  other  root,  producing  so  good  fruit  as  that  of  Christ 
"  in  man,  a  doctrine  proved  by  more  .than  twenty  testimonies, 
"from  Christ  and  his  apostles;  it  being  the  work  of  Christ 
"within  us,  as  well  as  the  work  of  Christ  without  u*s,  that 
"brings  salvation.  And  I  find  a  seed  in  this  nation  that  is 
"  not  ashamed  of  the  cross  of  Christ,  nor  of  his  doctrines,  which 
"  shone  forth  so  conspicuously  in  George  Fox.  And,  notwith- 
standing the  document  that  has  been  issued  against  me,  I 
"still  do  not  feel  as  though  I  should  be  clear  in  the  sight  of 
"my  divine  Master,  without  endeavoring  to  visit  that  suft'er- 
"ing  seed  in  this  land,  such  as  may  be  willing  to  receive  me, 
"having  been  impressively  reminded,  with  reference  to  the 
"  before-mentioned  paper,  of  the  reply  of  Peter  and  John,  when 
"commanded  not  to  speak  at  all,  nor  teach  in  the  name  of 
"  Jesus  :  '  Whether  it  be  right,  in  the  sight  of  God,  to  hearken 
"  unto  you  more  than  unto  God,  judge  ye.'  If  a  man  be  pre- 
"  pared  honestly  to  adopt  the  sublime  language  of  Job  :  '  Be- 
"  hold,  my  witness  is  in  heaven,  and  my  record  is  on  high,' 
"he  will  be  enabled  to  stand  fast  in  the  Lord  ;  but  if  he  vin- 
dicate the  wrong,  and  refuse  to  condemn  it,  all  his  profes- 
sions of  the  right  will  avail  him  nothing." 

And  further  on,  "Therefore,  let  not  my  dear  fellow-proba- 
"  tioners  chide  me,  for  I  have  come  here  in  the  fear  of  the  Lord, 
"and  in  my  small  measure  for  the  upholding  of  his  testi- 
"  monies." 

The  rest  of  the  document  is  mainly  devoted  to  show- 
ing the  judgment  of  Philadelphia  Yearly  Meeting  in  the 
case,  which  was  so  opposite  to  that  of  London  ;  and 
finally  he  concluded  with  the  following  remark  : 

"  In  conclusion,  let  me  add  that,  believing  controversy  for 
"the  sake  of  controversy  to  be  wrong,  and  ever  to  be  avoided, 
"  this  paper  is  not  intended  to  lead  to  unavailing  disputation  ; 
"but  I  would  remind  such  as  are  fearful  of  anything  which 
"they  think  may  tend  to  'divide  in  Jacob  and  scatter  in 
"Israel,'  that  from  the  fall  of  man  to  this  very  day,  the  Lord 


1856.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


373 


"  has  had  a  controversy  against  evil,  and  his  chosen  ones  must 
"have  the  same;  and  this  controversy,  far  from  tending  to 
"scatter  the  faithful,  unites  them  in  the  great  work  of  main- 
" taming  that  holy  'faith  once  delivered  unto  the  saints.'  "* 

After  issuing  this  Circular,  J.  Wilbur  travelled  dur- 
ing the  winter  in  the  north  of  England  and  in  Scotland. 
At  Glasgow  he  again  met  with  his  faithful  friend,  Lydia 
A.  Barclay,  who  though  weak  in  bodily  health,  came 
thither  from  her  home  at  Aberdeen,  once  more  to  com- 
mune with  a  beloved  elder  brother  in  bonds  for  the  gos- 
pel. Thence  he  passed  over  the  Channel  to  Ireland, 
visited  various  meetings  and  some  families  in  that 
island,  and  then  returned  to  England — went  a  third 
time  to  London — thence  to  Birmingham,  etc. — and  soon 
afterwards  took  passage  from  Liverpool  on  his  return  to 
his  native  land.  He  was  then  about  eighty  years  of 
age.  His  decease  took  place  about  two  years  after- 
wards, viz.,  on  the  1st  of  fifth  month,  1856,  attended 
with  a  clear  and  sensible  evidence  of  that  peace  which, 
through  the  mercy  of  God  in  Christ  Jesus,  is  the  reward 
of  obedience  to  the  Divine  Witness  for  truth  in  the  soul. 

Sonic  years  afterwards,  W.  Uobinson,  a  professed 
minister  from  England,  and  his  companion,  travelling 
in  America,  met  with  a  woman  whose  mind  was  in  an 
unsound  condition,  who  told  them  that- she  had  lived  in 
John  Wilbur's  family  during  his  last  sickness,  that  he 
was  brought  into  great  distress  in  reflecting  on  his  past 
course,  and  recanted  some  of  his  expressed  sentiments  in 
opposition  to  those  of  J.  J.  Gurney,  and  was  then  fa- 
vored to  find  peace.    This  account,  regardless  of  the 

*  The  Circular  at  large  is  in  J.  W.'s  Journal  and  Correspondence,  page  531  to 
535. 


374 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IX     [dlAP.  XVII. 


condition  of  their  informant,  or  possibly  not  troubling 
themselves  to  inquire  into  it,  they  transmitted  to  Eng- 
land, where  it  was  promptly  circulated  in  a  periodical 
paper.  It  was  false  from  beginning  to  end.  The  family 
of  J.  Wilbur  had  no  knowledge  of  such  a  woman ;  and 
on  afterwards  being  questioned  in  regard  to  the  state- 
ment, she  candidly  acknowledged,  both  verbally  and  in 
writing,  that  she  had  never  seen  John  Wilbur,  and  that 
she  had  made  that  statement  when  her  mind  was  in 
such  a  state  that  she  was  not  accountable  for  what  she 
said.  This  is  a  tolerably  fair  sample  of  the  eagerness 
which  was  manifested  by  certain  parties  to  find  occasion 
of  false  representation  against  that  worthy  man  and  his 
associates  in  religious  fellowship.  The  author  may  add, 
that  he  was  himself  a  witness  of  the  sweet  peace  which 
attended  J.  Wilbur's  latter  days,  having  been  with  him 
for  several  days,  only  about  a  week  before  he  was  taken 
with  his  last  sickness,  and  about  three  weeks  before  his 
death.  At  this  time  he  was  struck  with  the  sweet  sa- 
vour of  J.  Wilbur's  spirit,  as  well  as  with  his  still  liv- 
ing concern  manifestly  prevalent,  for  the  promotion  of 
the  truth  to  which  he  had  so  long  borne  testimony.  As 
we  parted,  he  remarked  placidly  and  humbly,  that  he 

was  not  looking  now  for  much  more  service  bein";  re- 
cs  o 

quired  -of  him,  and  he  felt  as  one  quietly  waiting  for  his 
dismissal.  This  dismissal  soon  came,  and  was  welcomed 
as  by  a  good  soldier  of  Jesus  Christ. 

In  the  course  of  but  a  few  years  the  Society  in  England 
was,  in  the  inscrutable  counsels  of  the  Most  High,  stripped 
of  many  faithful  advocates  of  the  pure  truth.  Thomas 
Shillitoe,  Sarah  L.  Grubb,  Daniel  Wheeler,  John  Ear- 
clay,  George  and  Ann  Jones,  John  Harrison,  and  others, 


1850.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


375 


had  boon  called  to  their  eternal  restj  and  now  tlioy  were 
followed  by  Lydia  Ann  Barclay,  who  deceased  on  the 
31st  of  first  month,  1855.  Her  beloved  friend,  Pris- 
cilla  Hickman,  of  Wellingham,  in  Sussex,  a  sister  in  the 
truth  and  in  the  testimony  of  Jesus,  was  likewise  added 
to  the  number  of  the  missing  ones;  being  called  away 
in  great  peace  on  the  30th  of  the  tenth  month,  1859; 
dying,  as  she  had  lived,  in  the  faith  of  the  gospel,  and 
in  sweet  fellowship  with  the  few,  both  in  England  and 
America,  who  were  endeavoring  to  stand  firm  to  the 
ancient  landmarks.  Thus  those  who  were  left  to  up- 
hold the  standard  of  the  primitive  faith,  felt  that  they 
were  but  a  feeble  remnant,  and  were  often  discouraged 
in  their  endeavors  to  testify  to  the  truth,  and  against  the 
novelties  that  were  now  overwhelming  the  Society. 

The  Yearly  Meeting  appeared  to  be  entirely  under 
the  control  of  the  innovators,  who,  in  the  same  spirit  of 
restless  self-activity  and  desire  for  an  easy  popular  re- 
ligion, which  had  led  to  the  changes  in  doctrine  and 
practice,  soon  began  to  tamper  with  the  Discipline. 
From  the  year  1850  to  1861,  great  changes  were  thus 
introduced,  some  of  which  discarded  several  of  the  most 
characteristic  testimonies  of  Friends. 

About  the  year  1850  the  Yearly  Meeting  officially 
allowed  the  erection  of  gravestones  in  places  of  burial — 
in  1855  the  payment  of  "lay  impropriate  tithes"  was 
permitted — and  two  or  three  years  afterwards,  marriages 
were  allowed  with  persons  not  members,  but  only  "pro- 
fessing" with  Friends.  In  1858  the  4th  Query,  re- 
specting "plainness  of  speech,  behavior,  and  apparel," 
became  the  object  of  attack.  This  led  to  a  general  re- 
vision, in  18G0,  of  the  Queries  and  Advices,  and  indeed 


376 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN     [CHAP.  XVII. 


to  an  entire  remodelling  of  the  whole  of  the  Discipline, 
■which  was  at  length  accomplished  in  1861. 

In  the  1st  Query,  all  mention  of  meetings  for  disci- 
pline was  omitted,  and  all  inquiry  as  to  unbecoming 
behavior  in  meetings  for  worship. 

The  2d  Query,  as  to  "  growth  in  the  truth,"  was  to- 
tally expunged. 

4th  Query,  all  allusion  to  plainness  was  omitted. 

8th  Query,  respecting  tithes,  was  much  modified,  so 
as  to  generalize  the  query  into  payment  of  "all  ecclesi- 
astical demands  thus  permitting  the  payment  of  "  lay 
impropriate  tithes,"  as  agreed  in  1855. 

13th  Query,  respecting  the  due  care  in  admonishing 
against  marrying  those  not  Friends,  and  dealing  with 
such  as  persist  in  refusing  to  take  counsel — omitted. 

Various  other  Queries  were  altered  in  important  fea- 
tures, or  entirely  omitted,  and  several  were  placed  in  an 
anomalous  position — to  be  read,  but  not  answered.* 

The  Advices  were  now  ordered  to  be  read  "  after  the 
close  of  a  First-day  morning  meeting  for  worship," — 
that  is — to  the  mixed  company  then  in  attendance — in- 
stead of  in  meetings  for  discipline  as  formerly. 

Besides  the  above,  and  an  almost  incredible  amount 
of  other  omissions  and  changes,  f  the  following  weighty 
minute  of  1795  was  now  expunged  from  the  Book  of 
Discipline : 

*  In  1875  the  Queries  to  be  answered  (which  had  formerly  heen  seventeen) 
were  reduced  to  two,  and  that  only  once  a  year. 

t  It  has  been  asserted  that  "more  than  fifty  rules  of  discipline  or  specific  ad- 
vices''were  "  abrogated  and  removed  by  the  late  revision."  See  page  46  of  D. 
Pickard's  "Expostulation  on  Doctrine,  Discipline,  and  Practice,"  London,  1S64 ; 
which  contains  a  clear  development  of  these  sweeping  changes  and  of  the  insid- 
ious nature  of  them,  if  not  also  of  the  spirit  by  which  they  were  prompted. 


1861.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


377 


"  A  concern  hath  heen  spread  amongst  ns,  that  the  man- 
agement of  our  Christian  discipline  he  not  committed  to 
41  hands  unclean  ;  particularly  that  such  should  not  be  active 
"  therein,  who  allow,  or  connive  at,  undue  liberties  in  their 
"own  children  or  families.  'If  a  man,'  said  the  Apostle, 
"  'know  not  how  to  rule  his  own  house,  how  shall  he  take 
"  care  of  the  church  of  God '?'  And  we  particularly  desire 
"that  those,  who,  from  their  experience  and  stations,  ought 
"  to  lead  such  to  greater  circumspection,  do  not  encourage 
"  their  remissness,  by  putting  them  improperly  forward  into 
"  service." 

One  of  the  most  popular  changes  now  officially  sanc- 
tioned was  in  regard  to  the  constitution  of  the  Yearly 
Meeting  itself.  Whereas,  in  former  times,  this  Assem- 
bly, strictly  considered,  was  composed  of  Representatives 
from  the  Quarterly  or  General  Meetings,  and  from  the 
Half- Yearly  or  Yearly  Meeting  in  Ireland,  together 
with  "such  ministering  friends  as  may  be  in  town,  and 
the  correspondents  or  members  of  the  Meeting  for  Suf- 
ferings;" and  other  friends,  religiously  concerned  to 
attend  its  sittings,  had  of  latter  time  contributed  largely 
to  swell  its  numbers,  and  were  conceded  to  be  rightly 
and  acceptably  there;  now  all  guard  or  limitation  of 
this  nature  (which  had  still  offered  some  check  on  disor- 
derly walkers),  was  entirely  abrogated,  and  a  wide  door 
was  opened  for  every  birthright  member,  consistent  or 
inconsistent  with  the  principles  of  the  Society  (the  latter 
far  preponderating),  to  claim  to  have  his  voice  heard, 
and  attended  to,  on  an  equality  with  any  other.  The 
following  brief  minute  proclaimed  the  new  constitution 
of  London  Yearly  Meeting : 

"  It  is  concluded  that  this  Meeting  consist  of  all  the  mern- 
"  bers  of  the  Quarterly  and  General  Meetings  in  Great  Britain, 
"and  of  Representatives  from  the  Yearly  Meeting  in  Ireland." 


378 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN     [CHAP.  XVII, 


A  true  church  of  Christ  is  an  assembly  of  the  faithful. 
By  this  new  constitution,  unqualified  as  it  was,  the 
Yearly  Meeting  of  London  virtually  abandoned  its 
claim  to  be  in  reality  a  pure  church  of  Christ;  for  it 
Mas  well  known  that  "all  the  members"  were  by  no 
means  to  be  classed  among  the  faithful,  but  that  a  very 
large  proportion  were  unregenerate  and  of  the  world. 
"  From  the  beginning  it  was  not  so."  If  the  Yearly 
Meeting,  instead  of  including  "all  the  members,"  had 
declared  that  "all  the  living  and  faithful,"  or  even  "all 
the  religiously  concerned  and  consistent  members," 
should  be  considered,  when  congregated,  as  constituting 
that  assembly,  without  excluding  the  mere  attendance  of 
the  others,  it  would  have  been  safe  ground,  and  would 
probably  have  effectually  foreclosed  any  further  pressure 
of  the  non-birthright  agitation,  by  satisfying  the  main 
objections  to  birthright  membership.  On  the  above 
new  profession  of  constitution,  the  Yearly  Meeting  is 
one  thing,  while  the  church  of  Christ  is  obviously 
another  thing. 

The  control  exercised  by  the  innovators  had  now  be- 
come so  overwhelming  in  the  Yearly  Meeting,  that  the 
few'  testimony-bearers  for  the  truth  became  more  and 
mitre  discouraged,  and  it  seemed  as  if  the  ancient  stand- 
ard might  fall  in  the  streets  and  be  lost.  There  were 
still,  however,  one  or  two  here  and  there  preserved,  like 
the  few  berries  on  the  outmost  branches  of  the  olive 
tree;  who  mourned  in  secret,  or  at  times  mutually,  over 
the  laying  waste  of  the  Lord's  heritage,  and  who  could 
not  bow  down  to  this  gilded  image  set  up  by  the  great 
ones  with  all  kinds  of  music;  though  they  saw  as  yet 
no  way  of  escape  from  the  bonds  which  were  closing 


1800.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


379 


around  them.  There  were  a  few  others,  who  seemed 
valiant  for  the  ancient  landmarks,  as  long  as  no  personal 
danger  should  he  incurred,  or  risk  of  losing  their  mem- 
bership or  stations,  or  appearing  in  the  view  of  some  as 
separatists  from  that  Body,  which,  though  confessed  by 
them  to  be  lapsed,  had  yet  many  elements  of  outward 
attraction  and  influence.  There  were  also  quite  a  num- 
ber throughout  the  land,  who  could  talk  in  favor  of 
sound  doctrine,  and  lament  departures,  and  make  a  show 
of  not  wishing  to  join  any  innovating  or  revolutionary 
movement,  but  who  were  by  no  means  willing  to  "  lose 
caste"  for  the  blessed  Truth's  sake.  Indeed  the  reliably 
faithful  opponents  of  the  new  measures — mournful  as  it 
is  to  say  it — were  becoming  hardly  discernible  in  the 
great  mass,  and  in  imminent  danger  of  being  swept  away 
by  the  flood  of  novelty  and  popularity  which  attached 
to  the  new  system. 

In  the  fourth  month,  I860,  John  G.  Sargent,  then 
residing  at  Cockermouth,  in  Cumberland,  issued  a  Cir- 
cular, in  manuscript,  to  such  Friends  as  he  believed 
were  prepared  to  unite  with  him  in  sentiment  in  regard 
to  the  great  danger  which  threatened  the  Society.  This 
Circular  tenderly  and  weightily  pressed  the  subject  on 
the  attention  of  those  addressed,  and  showed  the  obliga- 
tion such  were  under,  to  be  faithful  to  the  manifestations 
of  duty,  for  the  safety  of  the  present  and  of  future  gen- 
erations, as  well  as  for  their  own  clearness  before  the 
Most  High.  "  Unless,"  said  he,  "the  fathers  and  the 
"  mothers  be  faithful  and  stand  fast,  where  shall  the 
"children  be?  And  does  not  Wisdom  now  lift  up  her 
"  voice  in  our  streets,  and  open  unto  us  that  which  is  of 
"the  Father?    And  will  we  not  endeavor,  with  the 


380  THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN     [CHAP.  XVII. 


"ability  which  God  giveth,  to  strengthen  the  things  that 
"  remain — so  that  we  and  our  children,  those  who  are 
"young  and  tender  under  the  Lord's  visiting  power, 
"  wherewith  He  is  pleased  to  visit,  may  gather  strength 
"for  the  fight,  and  still  maintain  and  continue  to  uphold 
"those  precious  testimonies  to  His  truth,  revealed  in  our 
"inward  parts  to  be  truth  and  no  lie — and  which  our 
"  dear  and  honored  predecessors,  so  many  of  them, 
"  boldly  stood  in,  and  sealed  their  testimony  thereto 
"  with  their  blood  !" 

He  then  suggested  the  propriety  and  benefit  of  such 
as  saw  these  things  and  mourned  over  the  desolations, 
meeting  together  at  times,  as  a  General  Meeting,  first 
for  divine  worship  and  seeking  together  for  the  Lord's 
blessing,  and  then  to  encourage  one  another  in  a  firm 
adherence  to  the  ancient  faith.  But  no  time  or  place 
was  designated  as  yet  for  such  a  meeting,  and  it  was  thus 
quietly  left  on  the  minds  of  those  addressed,  for  mature 
consideration. 

Nothing  appeared  as  a  result  of  this  proposal  until 
two  years  afterward.  During  the  summer  of  1862  it 
was  thought  by  several  Friends  that  the  time  had  ar- 
rived for  endeavoring  to  carry  into  effect  something  of 
the  kind  thus  suggested.  Accordingly,  a  meeting  of 
Conference  was  held  in  London  on  the  17th  of  the  tenth 
month,  which  was  attended  by  fifteen  men  and  two 
women  friends,  who  mourned  over  the  changed  condition 
of  the  Society.  No  prearrangement  of  business  had 
been  made,  or  of  the  proceedings  or  subjects  to  be  en- 
tered upon,  but  an  engagement  of  mind  was  felt,  to  wait 
in  patience  for  best  direction.  The  meeting  was  thus 
characterized   by  considerable   silence,  though  inter- 


1862.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


381 


spersed  with  testimonies  in  the  ministry,  and  the  ex- 
pression of  views  by  various  Friends  relative  to  the 
innovations  on  the  ancient  principles  and  practices  of  the 
Society,  and  the  difficulties  thereby  brought  upon  those 
who  were  conscientiously  bound  to  walk  in  the  primi- 
tive path.  After  a  sitting  of  more  than  three  hours, 
they  adjourned  to  the  afternoon  ;  at  which  time  a  clerk 
was  appointed  for  the  meeting;  but  it  was  ultimately 
concluded  that  no  record  of  their  proceedings  should  be 
made  at  present.  Various  subjects  connected  with  the 
difficulties  attending  Friends  of  sound  views  in  their 
association  with  the  others,  were  weightily  considered, 
and  it  was  thought  that  both  the  sittings  were  favored 
opportunities.  Nevertheless,  although  it  was  truly 
urged  by  some,  that  they  who  promote  new  doctrines 
are  themselves  the  Separatists,  not  those  who  resist  their 
introduction  ;  yet  a  feeling  prevailed  that  the  way  did 
not  open  at  present  for  taking  any  steps  that  might  be 
considered  as  acts  tending  toward  a  separation. 

The  next  Conference  meeting  was  agreed  to  be  held 
at  Leeds,  in  the  ensuing  third  month  ;  when  eighteen 
Friends  assembled  ;  and,  amongst  other  business,  the 
Queries  and  Advices  of  the  old  Discipline  of  1802,  un- 
modified, were  read  and  considered. 

The  third  Conference  meeting  was  held  in  London,  in 
the  ninth  month  of  1863;  and  these  meetings  continued 
to  be  held  about  once  in  four  months,  either  in  London, 
Birmingham,  Leeds,  Chesterfield,  or  Manchester,  for  a 
period  of  seven  years;  attended  generally  by  an  average 
of  twenty-five  friends,  or  thereabouts,  representing  per- 
haps double  that  number  who  felt  a  deep  interest  in 
attending  them,  when  it  was  practicable  for  them  to  do 


382 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN     [CHAP.  XVII. 


so.  But  Friends  of  sound  views  were  now  scattered 
here  and  there  in  different  parts  of  the  country,  and 
many  of  them  were  not  in  circumstances  to  warrant  long 
and  frequent  journeying?.  A  number  of  others,  who 
had  sympathy  with  the  object  aimed  at  by  the  Confer- 
ence meetings,  were  deterred  by  the  trammels  of  "sta- 
tion" (either  as  ministers,  elders,  overseers,  or  members 
of  the  Meeting  for  Sufferings)  from  taking  so  open  a 
step  as  would  be  the  attendance  of  those  meetings. 
Such  as  these  generally  dropped  away  gradually  into 
lukewarmness  or  blind  submissiveness,  as  a  reward  for 
their  unfaithfulness  to  conviction. 

At  this  third  Conference,  held,  as  above  mentioned, 
in  London,  in  the  ninth  month,  1863,  it  was  plainly 
manifest  that  a  few  Friends  were  already  prepared  to 
discontinue  all  attendance  of  the  meetings  for  discipline 
held  under  the  lapsed  authority  of  the  Yearly  Meeting, 
but  that  others  were  not  so  prepared  ;  so  that  all  the  ad- 
vice on  that  subject  that  could  be  given  by  the  Conference 
collectively,  was  to  the  effect  that  Friends,  in  attending 
such  meetings,  should  endeavor  to  be  faithful  in  clearing 
their  hands  of  the  defection,  and  abstain  from  all  contact 
with  matters  connected  with  innovation. 

The  next  year,  two  of  the  Conference  Meetings  were 
largely  occupied  in  examining  the  manuscripts  of  "An 
Expostulation  on  Doctrine,  Discipline,  and  Practice," 
written  by  Daniel  Pickard,  one  of  their  number;  and 
"in  the  solid  persuasion  that  the  cause  of  Truth  re- 
quired it,"  he  "was  cordially  encouraged"  to  publish 
it.*  This  work  was  a  direct  attack  upon  London  Yearly 


*  "  Expostulation,"  etc.   Loudon,  A.  W.  Bennett,  186J ;  p.age  vii  of  Preface. 


18G8.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


383 


Meeting,  in  regard  to  soundness  of  doctrine  and  ecclesi- 
astical  authority,  showing  clearly,  from  its  own  acts,  its 
lapse  from  first  principles.    Yet  it  was  never  answered. 

At  the  Conference  held  in  London  in  the  tenth  month, 
1864,  an  Epistle  of  encouragement  and  brotherly  greet- 
ing was  presented  from  New  York  Yearly  Meeting,  held 
at  Poplar  Ridge,  addressed  "  to  the  Remnant  of  Friends 
in  England;"  but  the  reasoning  part  (essentially  of  the 
same  spirit  that  had  interfered  so  disastrously  in  America 
to  compromise  the  testimony)  now  showed  itself  openly, 
and  even  prevailed  to  the  rejection  of  that  epistle.  Here 
was  an  advantage  gained  by  the  cunning  adversary  ;  and 
weakness  henceforth  increased  in  their  deliberations,  as 
well  as  a  spirit  of  activity  of  self  in  some,  setting  itself 
to  work  at  plausible  things  not  called  for  by  the  pure 
truth.  All,  however,  did  not  yield  to  this,  and  there 
was  still  a  savor  of  life  to  be  felt  among  them,  though 
with  some  mixture. 

The  Conference  held  in  London,  in  the  eighth  month, 
I860,  united  with  the  prospect  of  some  friends  engaged 
in  the  ministry,  to  pay  a  religious  visit  to  Wales  and 
the  adjacent  counties,  and  encouraged  them  to  proceed 
therein,  but  did  not  see  its  way  to  give  them  any  minute 
or  certificate.  This  visit  was  accomplished  in  the  au- 
tumn. 

The  Conference  which  met  in  London  on  the  2d  and 
3d  of  the  fourth  month,  1808,  is  described  by  one  pres- 
ent as  being  "a  time  of  favor,  wherein  many  living 
testimonies  were  heard,  to  the  comforting:  and  contriting" 
of  [their]  spirits,  and  tending  to  encourage  to  patience 
in  the  path  of  tribulation."  At  this  meeting,  three 
friends  in  the  ministry,  John  G.  Sargent,  Matilda  Rick- 


384  THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN     [CHAP.  XVII. 


man,  and  Louisa  E.  Gilkes,  were  set  at  liberty,  and 
encouraged  to  proceed  in  the  weighty  undertaking  of  a 
visit  in  gospel  love  to  the  "Smaller  Bodies"  of  Friends 
in  America,  yet  still  without  any  written  credentials. 

These  three  Friends  arrived  in  America  in  time  to 
proceed  to  Scipio,  and  attend  the  Yearly  Meeting  at 
Poplar  Ridge,  which  occurred  toward  the  close  of  the 
fifth  month.  They  afterwards  returned  to  Philadelphia, 
attended  the  General  Meeting  at  Fallsington,  and  then 
went  to  New  England,  attending  the  Annual  Meeting 
at  Newport,  on  Rhode  Island,  and  subsequently  passing 
over  to  the  island  of  Nantucket.  Returning  from  New 
England  they  travelled  into  Ohio,  visiting  the  little 
company  of  Friends  at  Salem  in  that  State;  and  return- 
ing by  way  of  Ulysses  and  Bath  (the  friends  of  which 
places  compose  Hector  Monthly  Meeting  within  Scipio 
Quarter),  they  visited  the  meeting  and  families  of 
Friends  of  Elkland,  on  the  Alleghany  Mountains,  and 
returned  to  Philadelphia.  They  also  visited  Friends  of 
Nottingham  Quarterly  Meeting,  in  Maryland,  and  sun- 
dry places  in  Pennsylvania.  After  thus  paying  a  very 
diligent  and  rapid,  though  pretty  general,  visit  to  Friends 
of  the  "Smaller  Bodies"  hereaway,  they  found  them- 
selves  free  to  return  home;  having  travelled  among 
Friends  in  the  fellowship  of  true  disciples,  and  to  the 
comfort  and  edification  of  the  living  in  Israel,  and  hav- 
ing received,  on  the  other  hand,  much  clearer  views  of 
the  situation  and  circumstances  of  the  little  companies 
composing  the  Smaller  Bodies  or  isolated  remnants  of 
the  Society,  than  they  could  otherwise  have  obtained. 
They  had  found  (to  some  degree  unlooked  for  by  them), 
that,  notwithstanding  the  "divisions  and  subdivisions" 


1868.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


385 


which  had  taken  some  from  among  them,  and  had  been 
much  bruited  abroad  to  the  reproach  of  the  cause,  these 
small  companies  of  Friends  were  in  reality  not  merely 
disintegrated  and  scattered  fragments,  but  were  as  a 
whole  a  compact  body,  united  together  in  the  fellowship 
of  the  gospel,  and  in  one  mutual  concern  for  the  main- 
tenance, as  far  as  they  might  be  enabled,  of  the  doctrines 
of  the  unchangeable  truth,  and  a  life  and  conversation 
consistent  therewith.  They  had  been  sensible  of  evi- 
dences of  true  life,  vouchsafed  in  the  abounding  mercy 
of  the  Great  Shepherd  of  the  sheep,  while  going  in  and 
out  among  this  people ;  and  great  had  been  their  com- 
fort in  feeling  the  overshadowing  of  the  wing  of  Ancient 
Goodness  in  their  meetings  up  and  down  the  land.  So 
that  while  their  visit  was  greatly  to  the  refreshment  of 
those  whom  they  visited,  and  instrumental  to  the  bind- 
ing of  them  together  still  more  firmly  into  one,  the 
visitors  themselves  returned  home  confirmed  and 
strengthened  to  go  forward  in  the  way  cast  up  before 
them,  without  consulting  with  flesh  and  blood.  They 
had  also  felt  drawn  to  have  opportunities,  on  different 
occasions,  of  interviews  with  some  of  the  dissentients 
who  had  latterly  given  Friends  so  much  trouble  and 
gone  off  from  them,  and  were  entirely  satisfied  of  the 
scattering  and  disorderly  spirit  which  had  actuated  those 
movements. 

During  their  voyage  homeward,  and  after  their  arri- 
val in  England,  they  were  impressed  with  the  belief 
that  it  would  not  be  right  for  them  again  to  unite  in 
meetings  for  divine  worship  or  discipline  under  the  con- 
trol of  London  Yearly  Meeting,  hopelessly  lapsed  as  it 
was  into  fundamental  error.  Soon  afterwards  the  two 
vol.  ii. — 33 


386 


THE  SOCIETY  OP  FRIENDS  IN     [CHAP.  XVII. 


female  friends  went  to  reside  at  Fritchley,  in  Derbyshire, 
where  John  G.  Sargent  and  his  family  were  then  living, 
and  where  a  meeting  for  divine  worship  was  already 
settled;  and  that  meeting  became  established,  and  in- 
creased in  numbers. 

But  these  Friends  soon  found,  to  their  sorrow,  that 
the  halfway  compromising  spirit  among  some  members 
in  the  Conference  meetings,  was  becoming  very  busy  to 
thwart  any  decided  measures,  and  to  throw  censure  upon 
them,  for  having,  during  their  visit  to  America,  ab- 
stained from  giving  countenance  to  those  actuated  by 
the  same  middle  spirit  there,  or  to  those  who  had  struck 
off  from  Friends  under  various  pretexts.  These  alleged 
that  all  should  have  been  visited  alike  by  the  three 
Friends,  without  showing  what  they  deemed  partiality 
to  those  who  had  stood  firm  and  united  together  through 
these  great  trials,  and  opposed  to  every  disorder.  This 
party  threw  obstacles  in  the  way  of  all  attempts  to  open 
or  establish  meetings  for  worship  distinct  from  those 
subordinate  to  the  Yearly  Meeting,  or  anything  like 
owning  fellowship  with  Friends  of  the  General  Meeting 
held  at  Fallsington,  or  the  Yearly  Meeting  at  Poplar 
Bidge. 

This  spirit  was  particularly  developed  at  the  Con- 
ference Meeting  at  Birmingham,  held  in  the  first  month, 
1869.  A  letter  from  one  of  the  friends  who  had  visited 
America  the  previous  summer,  says  : 

' 1  Yes,  it  is  a  day  of  sore  affliction,  because  those  who  have 
"  walked  witli  us  rise  up  against  what  we  believe  to  be  for 
"  their  and  our  peace  and  joy,  and  we  cannot  convince  them 
"of  its  being  to  their  loss.  The  Conference  sittings  (four  in 
"number)  at  Birmingham,  have  more  fully  developed  this 


1869.]  THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


387 


"fact  The  purifying  fire  is,  I  apprehend,  hotter  than 

"the  rebellious  nature,  is  willing  to  endure;  and  yet  it  was 
"  mercifully  to  he  noted  that  the  Beloved  Messenger  of  the 
"covenant  came  to  the  temple,  that  He  might  purify  the  sons 
"of  Levi,  and  make  them  clean  vessels  unto  Himself.  He 
"came  to  search  Jerusalem  with  candles,  that  every  secret 
"corner  might  be  discovered,  aud  holiness  inscribed  upon 

"every  thought,  word,  and  deed  It  was  a  time  in 

"which  we  hoped  Truth  made  someway — but  if  there  is  a 
"turning  away  from  that  operation,  instead  of  a  suhmission 
"  to  the  suffering,  then  there  comes  a  hardness,  which  prevents 
"  a  co-working  in  the  precious  cause  of  righteousness,  aud  an 
"attempt,  too  often  successful,  to  hinder  its  increase;  to  the 
"distress  of  the  little  ones,  who  are  desirous  of  being  wholly 
"formed  by  the  counsels  of  Wisdom  into  a  compact  body, 

"  through  which  Life  may  flow  uninterruptedly  "We 

"are  afflicted,  but  not  in  despair;  for  we  believe  the  Lord  is 
"  on  our  side,  and  that  we  need  not  fear  ;  that  He  is  our  light 
"and  salvation,  and  will  be  so,  if  we  cleave  unto  Him,  and 
"cease  from  man.  May  you  be  comforted  in  knowing  that 
"His  arm  is  revealed  unto  us,  and  our  confidence  steadfast  in 
"the  God  of  Jacob." 

A  letter  from  another  Friend  says  : 

"  We  had  to  partake,  at  this  Conference,  of  that  cup  which 
"  has  never,  I  think,  been  quite  so  bitter  to  the  taste  before, 
"at  any  of  these  meetings — arising  from  a  more  full  and  open 
"exposure  of  what  was  in  man,  even  in  some  attending  these 
"  sittings.  But  the  Lord  was  near  to  help;  and  preserve  from 
"answering  again  in  that  spirit  which  never  can  build,  but 
"  must  lay  waste,  as  it  is  cherished  or  given  way  to.  Our  first 
"  sitting  (the  meeting  for  worship)  I  can  say,  felt  to  be  a  favored 
"time,  which  the  Master  owned  with  his  presence,  to  a  feel- 
"  ing  of  gratitude  and  praise,  and  strength  was  renewed.  But 
"matters  in  our  Conference  did  not  move  on  as  would  have 

"  been  a  comfort  to  us  The  subject  of  answering  the 

"Epistles  from  our  dear  Friends  on  your  side,  came  again 
"before  us,  and  it  was  plain  that  there  existed  the  same  im- 


388 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FBI  ENDS  IN     [CHAP.  XVII. 


"pediment  to  its  being  done,  as  before  ;  and  this  with  com- 
"  paratively  a  few  ;  nevertheless,  these  were  of  the  most  active 

"  ones  amongst  us  What  may  yet  appear,  we  do  not 

"know;  but  if  faithful  and  low  in  our  minds,  I  trust  and 
"believe  we  shall  know  that  peace  which  makes  up  for  all 
"  that  we  have  gone  through  and  may  have  yet  to  go  through. 
"We  are  feeling,  I  think,  more  than  hitherto  we  have  done, 
"  how  few  we  are  who  are  walking  in  this  way — of  withdraw- 
ing from  the  multitude — but  I  trust  we  may  be  accounted 
"worthy  to  hold  up  the  standard  ;  and  it  may  be,  others  will 
"  join  us  ;  but  whether  or  no,  if  peace  and  the  owning  Power 
"accompany,  we  need  not  fear;  but  until  tried  we  do  not 
"know  the  degree  of  our  faith  ;  and  we  need  indeed  to  be  pray- 
erful, that  it  fail  not." 

About  this  time,  the  Friends  at  Fritehley,  and  a  few 
from  elsewhere,  drawn  in  spirit  to  unite  with  them, 
began  to  meet  once  a  month  collectively,  in  addition  to 
their  usual  meetings  for  worship  twice  a  week  in  the 
village.  These  collective  meetings  were  held  alternately 
at  Fritehley,  Bakewell,  and  Monsaldale,  in  Derbyshire ; 
and  were  afterwards  enlarged  in  their  scope,  so  as  to 
have  something  of  the  character  of  regular  Monthly 
Meetings  for  the  business  of  the  church,  as  well  as  for 
mutual  encouragement  in  waiting  on  the  Lord  for  the 
strengthening  of  their  faith.  Some  Friends  also,  in 
different  places  up  and  down  the  land  (though  very  few 
in  number),  were  gradually  drawn  to  meet  for  divine 
worship  apart  from  the  lapsed  bodies,  and  in  unison 
with  those  at  Fritehley.  Thus  small  meetings  were 
opened  at  Birmingham,  London,  Bakewell,  Monsaldale, 
and  some  other  places,  though  greatly  discountenanced 
and  discouraged  by  those  of  the  "  middle"  spirit,  as  well 
as  by  the  open  advocates  of  the  new  views. 


1869.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


.189 


It  was  necessary  that  this  halfway  spirit  should  clear 
itself  out  from  among  that  little  company,  before  any 
advancement  of  the  testimony  could  be  made. 

Meantime,  in  the  summer  of  1869,  Daniel  Koll,  of 
Salem,  Ohio,  with  certificates  of  the  unity  of  his  Monthly 
Meeting,  and  of  the  General  Meeting  of  Ministers  and 
Elders  held  at  Fallsington,  went  to  England,  on  a  visit 
of  gospel  love  to  the  remnant  of  Friends  there,  and  to 
the  Society  in  Norway,  accompanied  by  Mahlon  S. 
Kirkbride,  of  Bucks  County,  Pennsylvania. 

After  spending  a  short  time  among  Friends  in  various 
parts  of  England,  they  sailed  for  Stavanger,  attended 
nearly  all  the  meetings  of  Friends  in  Norway,  and 
visited  many  of  the  families,  scattered  along  the  coast  as 
far  north  as  Bergen.  They  found  an  open  door  among 
this  honest-hearted  and  tender-spirited  people.  Many 
of  them  were  then  sensible  of  the  difference  between  the 
primitive  doctrines  and  the  new  views,  and  to  some  de- 
gree aware  of  the  lapse  of  the  main  body  of  the  Society 
in  England,  who,  however,  were  diligent  in  endeavoring 
to  draw  them  over  to  a  closer  union  with  London  Yearly 
Meeting. 

After  travelling  in  Norway  for  about  a  month,  they 
sailed  for  Denmark,  to  visit  some  professing  with 
Friends  in  Jutland,  and  then  proceeded  through  north- 
ern Germany,  on  their  return  to  England.  Remaining 
a  few  weeks  longer  in  various  parts  of  England,  they 
attended  the  Conference  meeting  held  at  Birmingham, 
in  the  tenth  month.  This  was  a  proving  time  to  the 
right-minded,  from  the  continuance,  and  more  openly 
manifested  prevalence  of  the  spirit  of  opposition.  The 
sad  conviction  was  renewed!)-  impressed  upon  the  mem- 


390 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN     [CHAP.  XVII. 


bers,  that  the  meeting  was  now  composed  of  incongruous 
materials,  which  prevented  its  progress  in  a  pure  testi- 
mony for  the  Truth.  Much  time  was  occupied  in  a 
consideration  of  the  question  of  continuing  to  hold  meet- 
ings of  this  kind,  and  finally  a  minute  was  adopted,  by 
Avhich  the  Conferences  were  discontinued.  It  was  as 
follows : 

"The  question  of  holdiug  another  meeting  for  Conference 
"  lias  weightily  engaged  our  serious  deliberation,  and  we  feel 
"that  there  is  not  sufficient  clearness  to  appoint  a  time  to 
"  meet  together  again  ;  leaving  it  to  rightly  concerned  Friends 
"  in  this  nation  to  move  in  the  way  of  calling  their  brethren 
"  and  sisters  together,  as  the  Lord  may  be  pleased  to  open  the 
"way;  whose  guidance,  through  mercy,  during  past  gather- 
ings of  this  kind,  we  desire  thankfully  to  acknowledge  and 
"  record." 

Thus  terminated  the  Conference  meetings,  after  being 
held  about  three  times  a  year  for  a  period  of  seven  years. 
It  may  be  asked,  What  good  was  the  result  of  their 
existence?  Much — in  raising  even  the  standard  they 
did,  against  the  flood  of  defection,  and  encouraging  those 
engaged  in  them,  and  some  others,  to  stand  firm  in  a 
very  dark  day* — though  not  as  much  as  might  have  been, 
had  those  who  took  part  in  them  been  of  one  mind,  all 
thoroughly  baptized  for  the  work,  and  all  prepared  to 
"endure  hardness  as  good  soldiers  of  Jesus  Christ,"  in 
bearing  a  clear  and  unequivocal  testimony,  not  only 

*  To  the  existence  of  these  Conference  meetings  and  their  favorable  influence 
and  encouragement,  we  may  ascribe  in  great  measure  the  publication  of  the 
"Expostulation  on  Doctrine,  Discipline,  and  Practice,"  by  Daniel  Pickard,  and 
the  printing  and  circulation  of  W.  Irwin's  edition  of  10,000  copies  of  Barclay's 
"  Apology,"  after  the  Meeting  for  Sufferings  had  declined  to  reprint  it.  If  nothing 
more  had  been  effected  than  these  two  undertakings,  the  Conference  meetings 
would  not  have  been  in  vain. 


1869.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


391 


against  the  now  doctrines,  but  likewise  against  the  lapsed 
authority  of  London  Yearly  Meeting,  which  was  propa- 
gating those  doctrines.  Instead  of  this,  some  of  them, 
as  Ave  have  seen,  were  possessed  with  a  morbid  fear  of 
any  procedure  looking  like  separation,  even  from  what 
they  had  been  convinced  was  a  dead  body ;  and  this 
f  ar  continually  checked  and  thwarted  such  testimony 
as,  n  their  collective  capacity,  they  might  otherwise 
have  been  enabled  to  maintain,  for  the  increase  of  their 
own  strength,  and  the  information  and  encouragement 
of  others  throughout  the  Society.  One  of  the  friends 
present,  in  writing  of  it  afterwards,  remarked:  "We 
"  had  reached  a  point  in  our  travels,  where  two  roads 
"  meet — the  one  leading  to  the  setting  up  of  a  separate 
"  organization  in  this  coilntrv — the  other,  to  remain  in 
"the  beaten  track,  being  disinclined  to  leave  the 'old 
"Society'  in  England.  These  two  roads  lead  in  differ- 
ent directions.  No  one  can  travel  upon  both  at  the 
"same  time.  Hence,  if  both  sides  remained  firm,  a  sep- 
aration was  sure  to  come."  The  Conference  meetings 
were  therefore  seasonably  discontinued,  as  their  strength 
was  gone,  through  want  of  unanimity  in  aim,  and  their 
prolonged  existence  could  only  have  afforded  unsatis- 
factory opportunities  of  the  development  of  disunity 
among  the  members. 

But  was  the  standard  which  had  thus  been  a  little 
raised  in  England,  now  to  be  utterly  cast  down  and 
trodden  in  the  dust?  Not  so.  The  Conference  Meet- 
ings, which  had  failed  of  the  mark,  through  the  fearful- 
ness  of  certain  active  and  influential  members,  were,  in 
the  ordering  of  Divine  Wisdom,  to  give  way  for  the 
holding  up  of  a  more  clear  and  efficient  testimony, 


392 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN     [CHAP.  XVII. 


through  instruments  few  indeed  and  feeble  of  them- 
selves, but  more  fully  prepared  for  such  a  work,  and 
trusting  not  in  themselves,  but  in  the  help  of  Him 
whose  servants  alone  they  desired  to  be.  After  the  con- 
clusion of  the  meeting,  as  above  mentioned,  some  friends, 
who  could  not  feel  satisfied  with  the  anticipation  of  an 
entire  abandonment  of  all  hope  of  organization  for  the 
honor  of  the  Truth  and  the  maintenance  of  the  ancient 
faith,  continued  together,  to  wait  on  the  Great  Shepherd 
for  his  counsel  and  direction  ;  holding  two  sittings,  in 
which  it  was  ultimately  concluded  for  such  friends  as 
might  feel  prepared  to  unite  with  them  in  their  testi- 
mony, to  meet  at  Fritchley,  in  Derbyshire,  in  the  first 
month  of  1870,  if  so  permitted,  in  the  capacity  of  a  Gen- 
eral 3Iceting,  in  connection  wfth  the  little  meetings  for 
worship  already  held  in  different  places  in  England,  and 
the  monthly  gatherings  then  held  at  Fritchley,  Bake- 
well,  and  Monsaldale. 

About  one-half  <>l  the  usual  attendees  at  the  Confer- 
ence Meetings  united  in  forming  these  General  and 
Monthly  Meetings,  with  the  rules  of  Discipline  as  they 
stood  in  1802;  and  others  afterwards  gradually  joined 
them.  Most  of  the  other  half,  or  midway  men,  fell  back 
into  the  large  body  of  the  Yearly  Meeting,  notwithstand- 
ing the  exposures  which  they  had  themselves  made,  of 
its  apostasy  from  the  genuine  principles,  practice,  and 
discipline  of  the  Society. 

These  small  companies  of  Friends,  united  together  in 
a  testimony  for  the  ancient  faith  of  the  Society,  were 
afterwards  visited  at  different  times  by  several  Friends 
in  the  ministry  from  the  Smaller  Bodies  in  America;  of 
which  visits  it  is  only  necessary  here  to  say,  that  they 


1870.]  THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURA.  393 


were  to  the  comfort  of  the  few  struggling  ones,  who  were 
often  much  discouraged  when  looking  at  their  own 
weakness  and  the  greatness  of  the  cause;  but  who  still 
relied  upon  the  Arm  of  all-availing  sti-ength,  knowing 
their  fresh  springs  to  be  in  Him,  and  were  sustained  by 
the  incomes  of  his  love  and  the  overshadowing  of  his 
wing. 

The  General  Meeting  held  at  Fritchley  as  proposed, 
in  the  early  part  of  the  first  month,  1870,  was  attended 
by  about  twenty-five  Friends,  and  was  believed  by  those 
present  to  be  a  time  of  divine  owning  and  help.  Thence- 
forward these  meetings  have  been  regularly  held  at  that 
place,  and  their  establishment  was  promptly  recognized, 
through  epistolary  correspondence,  by  the  Yearly  Meet- 
ing of  Friends  of  New  York  held  at  Poplar  Ridge,  the 
General  Meeting  for  Pennsylvania,  etc.,  held  at  Falls- 
ington,  and  the  Annual  Meeting  for  New  England,  held 
at  Newport.  The  Yearly  Meeting  held  at  Nottingham, 
in  Maryland,  for  Baltimore,  had,  at  its  own  suggestion, 
been  merged  in  the  General  Meeting  for  Pennsylvania, 
etc.,  as  one  of  its  Monthly  Meetings. 

During  the  spring  of  1871,  Thomas  Drewry,  of  Fleet- 
wood, in  Lancashire,  under  an  apprehension  of  religious 
duty,  drew  up  a  document,  in  the  nature  of  a  Protest 
against  the  claims  of  the  London  Yearly  Meeting  to  be 
considered  any  longer  as  a  legitimate  meeting  of  the 
Society  of  Friends;  declaring  that  it  had  encouraged 
new  doctrines,  and  was  thus  become  a  schismatic  body, 
and  no  longer  entitled  to  hold  the  trust  properties  of 
various  kinds  which  had  from  time  to  time  been  left  to 
its  charge,  for  the  purposes  of  the  true  Society,  and  for 
the  promotion  of  the  cause  of  truth  as  always  held  by 
vol.  ii. — 34 


394 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN     [CHAP.  XVII. 


faithful  Friends.  A  copy  of  this  document  was  sent  to 
the  Yearly  Meeting  of  London  in  the  fifth  month,  ad- 
dressed to  the  clerk,  but  was  not  suffered  to  be  read 
therein.  A  copy  was  also  sent  (duly  attested  by  a  magis- 
trate) to  the  Government  Board  of  "Commissioners  of 
Charitable  Trusts,"  in  London — a  Board  having  the 
power  of  inspecting  into  the  faithful  management  of  all 
such  Trusts.  This  procedure  was  intended  by  him  for 
the  relief  of  his  own  mind,  so  far  as  it  went;  but  was 
not  expected  or  intended  to  be  followed  up  on  his  part 
by  any  further  legal  proceedings.  Its  receipt  by  this 
Board  was  duly  acknowledged.  The  Protest  was  as 
follows : 

"  To  ALL  WHOM  IT  MAY  CONCERN  : 

"I,  Thomas  Drewry,  of  Fleetwood,  in  the  County  of  Lan- 
"  caster,  Grocer,  do  solemnly,  sincerely,  and  truly  declare  and 
"affirm  as  follows:  That  I  am  a  member  of  the  Religious 
"  Society  of  Friends,  commonly  called  Quakers  ;  that  I  belong 
"to  Preston  Monthly  Meeting,  which  is  a  constituent  part  of 
"  the  Quarterly  Meeting  of  Lancashire  and  Cheshire,  and 
"within  the  bounds  of  the  Yearly  Meeting  of  London  ;  that 
"I  am  entitled  to  all  the  rights  and  privileges  of  membership 
"in  the  Society  of  Friends,  which  rights  and  privileges  have 
"not  to  this  day  been  called  in  question  by  any  of  the  consti- 
"  tuted  meetings  of  said  Society. 

"2. — I  declare  that  the  adoption  of,  or  acquiescence  in  new 
"  principles  and  new  usages,  at  variance  with  the  fundamen- 
"tal  principles  originally  established  in  the  Society,  is  a  de- 
parture from  the  original  compact,  and  a  lowering  of  the 
"  ancient  standard  of  faith,  and  that  the  Meeting  so  departing 
"  becomes  an  alien  body,  and  is  thereby  divested  of  all  right- 
"  ful  claim  to  be  regarded  as  a  Meeting  in  communion  with 
"  the  true  Society  of  Friends. 

"3. — I  assert  that  great  and  fundamental  changes  have 
"taken  place  within  what  is  called  the  Society  of  Friends,  in 
"recent  years,  in  reference  to  Faith  and  Doctrine. 


1871.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


395 


"4. — I  declare  that  the  Yearly  Meeting  of  London,  as  it  is 
"called  by  the  said  Society,  has  officially  embraced  new  Doc- 
"  trines,  and  to  a  great  extent  discarded  those  views  of  primi- 
"  tive  Christianity,  which,  through  the  ordering  of  Infinite 
iL  Goodness,  were  revived,  proclaimed,  published  to  the  world, 
"  lived  \ip  to,  and  suffered  for,  by  Friends  at  the  beginning 

"5.  —  I  affirm  that  evidences  of  this  defection  abound  and 
"  are  almost  everywhere  apparent 

"  0. — I  assert,  and  am  able  and  willing  to  offer  clear  and 
"  ample  proof,  that  the  changes  in  Doctrine  referred  to,  have 
"  been  pointed  out  by  well-concerned  Friends  again  and  again  ; 
"  and  I  also  assert  (hat  for  upwards  of  Thirty  Years  at  least, 
"true  Friends  have  been  exercised  in  their  minds  and  distressed 
"  thereby,  that  these  have  availed  themselves  of  the  opportu- 
"  nities  which  the  various  Meetings  for  Discipline  afforded,  to 
"speak  of  the  hurtful  tendency  of  the  changes  in  question, 
"but  that  entreaty,  expostulation,  remonstrance,  and  warn- 
"  ing,  have  been  alike  disregarded. 

"7. — I  affirm  that  nothing  convincing  to  the  true  Friend 
"has  been  put  forth  in  defence  of  these  innovations  in  Doc- 
"  trine,  nor  has  it  been  shown  by  official  documents,  or  other- 
"  wise  proved,  wherein  the  Early  Friends  were  mistaken  in 
"  their  views  or  apprehensions  of  the  Truth. 

"8. — T  assert  that  it  is  nut  in  the  power,  or  within  the  com- 
petency or  constitutional  functions,  of  any  of  the  Meetings 
"  for  Church  Affairs  of  the  Society  of  Friends,  called  and 
"known  by  the  name  of  Meetings  fur  Discipline,  to  alter, 
"abrogate,  or  abolish  the  Religious  Principles  or  Doctrines  of 
"Truth,  which  were  held,  set  forth,  maintained,  and  promul- 
"  gated  by  the  Founders  of  this  People  ;  or  to  rescind,  aban- 
"don,  or  annul  the  Religious  Testimonies,  Practices,  and 
"  Usages,  which  it  was  the-  care  and  concern  of  our  predeces- 
sors in  the  Truth,  in  the  fear  of  the  Lord,  to  maintain. 

"  0. — I  affirm  that  nut  even  a  Yearly  Meeting,  the  highest 
"court  as  regards  Faith  and  Practice  amongst  Friends,  can 
"change  the  fundamental  Principles  of  the  Society,  or  the 
"  Testimonies  which  have  ever  uniformly  flowed  from  them, 
"and  which  have  been  left  to  us  in  trust  for  succeeding  gen- 
"  erations. 


396  THE  SOCIETY  OP  FRIENDS  IN     [CHAP.  XVII. 


"  10. — I  maintain  that  the  abandonment  of  said  Principles 
"  is  an  act  of  Separation. 

"11. — I  affirm,  in  accordance  with  the  doctrine  of  our  an- 
"cient  Friends,  that  all  who  desert  the  Religious  Principles, 
"  which  first  drew  together  and  distinguished  the  Society,  be 
"  they  few  or  many,  are  truly  Separatists,  and  that  those  who 
"adhere  to  the  original  faith,  have  the  power  to  say  to  the 
"dissentients,  You  have  changed  your  views,  we  can  no  lon- 
"  ger  acknowledge  you  to  be  in  fellowship  with  us. 

"  12. — I  declare  that  London  Yearly  Meeting,  as  it  is 
"  termed,  has  separated  itself  from  the  sound  part  of  the  So- 
"ciety  ;  and  I  affirm  that  the  taint  of  Separation  necessarily 
"  reaches  and  attaches  to  all  Meetings,  of  whatever  kind,  that 
"remain  subordinate  thereto,  whether  they  be  Quarterly, 
"  Monthly,  or  Preparative,  together  with  the  subsidiary 
"  Meetings  thereunto  belonging. 

"13. — Seeing  that  London  Yearly  Meeting,  so  called,  has 
"  sanctioned  and  introduced  into  its  midst,  changes  and  inno- 
"vations  in  Doctrine  of  a  very  important  character, —  seeing 
"  that  it  has  done  that  which  it  had  no  constitutional  authority 
"  to  do, — seeing  that  it  has  broken  the  compact  which  bound 
"  the  Society  into  one  body,  for  the  support  and  maintenance 
"of  the  Principles  and  Testimonies  of  Truth, — I  maintain 
"  that  it  has  become  the  Yearty  Meeting  of  a  body  of  Sepa- 
ratists, and,  consequently,  has  no  lawful  right,  title,  or  au- 
"  thority  to  assume  the  name,  or  to  exercise  the  functions,  of 
"  a  Yearly  Meeting  of  the  Society  of  Friends. 

"14.— I,  therefore,  under  a  sense  of  apprehended  duty, 
"  Protest  against  the  claim  or  prescriptive  right,  set  up  by 
"  this  Meeting  of  Separatists,  either  by  itself,  or  by  any  of  its 
"subordinate  Meetings,  to  have,  hold,  retain  possession  of, 
"deal  with,  or  administer  Trust  Property,  which  belongs  not 
"  to  it,  but  belongs  to  those  who  adhere  to  the  original  faith 
"  of  the  Society  of  Friends,  for  whose  sole  use  and  benefit  the 
"several  TrvMs  were  created,  by  their  predecessors  in  relig- 
"  ions  profession. 

"(Signed)  Thomas  Drewry." 

"Declared  and  affirmed  at  Fleetwood,  in  the  County  of 


1873.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


397 


"  Lancaster,  this  Twentieth  day  of  May,  one  thousand  eight 
"hundred  and  seventy-one,  before  me, 

"(Signed)  F.Kemp, 
"Justice  of  the  Peace,  acting  in  and  for  the  County  of  Lan- 
caster." 

This  Protest,  direct  as  the  attack  was  on  the  Yearly 
Meeting,  never  elicited  any  reply  to  its  unanswerable 
charges,  as  would  have  become  a  people  conscious  of 
walking  in  the  footsteps  of  the  flock  of  Christ's  com- 
panions under  a  false  accusation ;  nor  was  any  official 
notice  whatever  taken  of  it  ;  but,  like  most  other  testi- 
monies against  the  great  defection,  it  was  consigned  to 
a  silent  reception  as  the  easiest  method  of  quickly  getting 
it  out  of  sight,  and  keeping  it  from  becoming  known 
abroad  or  among  the  members. 

In  the  year  1873  the  Yearly  Meeting  of  London  ap- 
pointed a  large  committee  to  visit  its  constituent  meet- 
ings. This  committee,  of  course,  was  principally  com- 
posed of  adherents  to  the  new  order  of  things  in  doctrine 
and  practice,  and  the  tendency  of  its  labors  was  to  en- 
courage much  merely  intellectual  activity  in  religious 
undertakings.  It  resolved  itself  into  sections  for  visit- 
ing the  various  portions  of  the  Society  there,  and  being 
continued  for  another  year,  made  a  plausible  report  of 
its  engagements  to  the  Yearly  Meeting,  in  1875;  in 
which  the  prevalent  novelties  were  carefully  kept  out  of 
view,  except  the  open  avowal  of  satisfaction  with  the 
hopeful  condition  which  they  thought  the  Society  was 
in,  "attributable,"  as  they  believed,  "  in  no  small  de- 
gree, to  First-day  Schools,  Mission  Meetings,  and  other 
similar  agencies."  What  these  "similar  agencies"  were, 
may  be  easily  understood  by  those  who  have  watched 


398  THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN     [CHAP.  XVII. 


the  course  of  General,  protracted,  or  "  revival  "  meet- 
ings;* meetings  purposely  appointed  for  "prayer,"  in 
man's  will  and  time;  meetings  occupied  more  or  less  in 
hymn-singing,  and  other  such  excitements  of  the  natural 
feelings;  meetings  held  for  the  "study"  of  the  Bible  by 
merely  intellectual  and  literary  means,  and  discarding 
or  overlooking  the  light  of  Christ  in  the  soul  as  the 
primary  instructor  and  true  interpreter;  with  an  inor- 
dinate dependence  also  upon  the  circulation  of  super- 
ficial tracts,  leaflets,  and  hymns,  and  an  indulgence  in 
ornamentally  embellished  texts  and  even  crosses,  and 
other  religious  toys  and  triflings,  which  have  prevailed 
so  greatly  since  the  introduction  of  the  modern  doctrines, 
and  seem  like  byways  back  to  Babylon. f 

*  The  Philadelphia  Friends'  Review  of  first  mo.  8th,  1876,  has  copied  from  the 
Loudon  Friend  some  directions  for  holding  these  revival  meetings,  or,  as  ftiey 
at  present  style  them,  General  Meetings.  These  directions  seem  to  have  been 
suggested  in  the  London  paper  by  Henry  S.  Newman,  and  their  publication  in 
the  Review  appears  to  indicate  an  approval  of  the  same  arrangements  taking 
place  in  America.  From  these  directions  it  is  very  evident  that  the  ministers 
are  expected  to  do  just  what  is  arranged  by  others  for  them  to  do — when, 
where,  how  much,  or  how  little — for  "  brotherly  guidance  will  be  much  needed  " 
— the  workers  and  the  committee  should  "  understand  one  another" — the  "elder- 
ship must  be  in  lively  exercise,"  particularly  "when  there  is  the  stimulus  of 
novelty  or  numbers" — so  that  the  committee  maybe  able  to  "give  advice  to 
a  minister,"  and  "good  soldiers"  may  "keep  rank,"  and  not  give  ''rambling 
addresses  that  the  people  cannot  follow,"  but  must  take  care  lest  "a  whole 
meeting  be  burdened  because  some  one  wishes  to  relieve  his  mind."  "  Meetings 
for  preaching  the  gospel  may  be  held  every  night,"  and  a  "conference  every 
morning  for  Scripture  study  and  prayer,"  and  one  or  two  Friends  should  be 
appointed  to  "  introduce  the  subject  for  the  day,"  etc. 

t  Respecting  the  consistency  of  the  labors  of  this  committee,  there  was  doubt- 
less some  divergence  of  sentiment  among  the  members  visited.  A  letter  to  a 
friend  from  Samuel  Evans,  an  aged  and  well-esteemed  member  of  Lancashire 
Quarterly  Meeting,  who  has  long  mourned  over  the  lapsed  condition  of  things, 
but  who,  in  his  85th  year,  still  adheres  to  "the  body,"  makes  the  following 
remarks  in  alluding  to  the  visit  of  a  section  of  the  committee  at  Warrington: 
.  .  .  .  "  It  was  not  to  me  a  satisfactory  opportunity,  as  I  could  not,  while  it 
lasted,  nor  have  I  been  able  since,  to  get  over  the  great  inconsistency  of  repre- 
sentatives of  the  Yearly  Meeting  going  through  the  length  and  breadth  of  the 
land,  preaching  doctrines  not  only  not  in  accordance  with  those  of  the  Society 


1849.]  THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


399 


We  must  now  recur  briefly,  but  a  little  more  partic- 
ularly, to  the  attacks  on  Robert  Barclay's  "  Apology," 
and  the  doctrine  of"  Immediate  Revelation,  already 
alluded  to.  Doubtless  they  had  (kept  up  as  they  were 
from  year  to  year  with  no  rebuke  from  the  body)  a 
powerful  influence  in  aid  of  J.  J.  Gurney's  writings,  in 
turning  aside  the  faith  of  many  in  England  from  the 
ancient  principles  of  the  Society.  The  most  prominent 
of  the  assailants  was  Dr.  Edward  Ash,  of  Bristol,  occu- 
pying the  station  of  a  minister,  and  the  last  survivor  of 
the  Committee  of  the  Yearly  Meeting  on  the  Beacon 
difficulty.  As  early  as  1849  he  had  expressed,  in  a 
printed  tract,  decided  objections  to  the  republication  of 
the  "  Apology  "  by  the  Society  ;  and  three  years  after- 
wards, finding  that  the  Meeting  for  Sufferings  still  con- 
tinued to  offer  the  work  for  sale,  he  resigned  his  mem- 
bership in  a  letter  to  his  Monthly  Meeting.  In  this 
letter  he  mentioned  that  the  parts  of  the  "Apology"  to 
which  he  objected  "embrace  a  large  portion  of  the  doc- 
trinal part  of  the  work,  and  have  reference  to  subjects 
of  primary  and  vital  concern  to  the  church,"  and  "  to 
some  prominent  parts  of  our  system  of  discipline."  In 
the  appendix  to  his  letter,  which  he  put  in  circulation, 
he  gave  a  brief  specification  of  his  objections;  which 
may  be  summed  up  as  referring  to  the  doctrines  of  Im- 

of  Friends,  but  subversive  of  them  ;  and  yet  no  one  makes  an  effort,  either  with 
pen  or  tongue,  to  lay  open  the  iniquity  of  such  practice."  And  in  reference  to 
the  subsequent  Quarterly  Meeting,  he  says  he  "found  no  comfort  there,"  add- 
ing, "  I  cannot  say  that  I  have  been  edified  by  my  attendance,  but  have  returned 
under  a  load  of  discouragement,  from  seeing  those  Friends,  who,  from  their 
station,  ought  to  be  the  leaders  of  the  flock  Zionward,  associating  with  and  aid- 
ing such  as  cause  the  people  to  err;  who  run  before  they  are  sent."  Doubt|ess, 
many  more  would  have  been  able  to  bear  a  similar  testimony,  had  they  with  a 
ingle  eye  consulted  their  own  best  feelings  in  the  tight  of  Tru(h,  instead  of 
putting  confidence  in  man. 


400 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN     [CHAP.  XVII. 


mediate  Revelation  and  the  Universal  and  Saving  Li»;ht, 
tlie  Holy  Scriptures,  Justification,  many  interpretations 
of  Scripture  considered  by  him  as  incorrect,  and  a  prev- 
alency,  throughout  the  work  (the  Apology)  of  what  is 
"defective  and  erroneous."  The  latter  clause  also  of 
the  statement  of  the  Proposition  on  Worship,  lie  said, 
"  furnished  of  itself  an  insuperable  objection,"  in  his 
view,  "  to  the  adoption  and  circulation  of  the  work."* 

It  was  an  evidence  of  great  defection,  that  the  Monthly 
Meeting,  instead  of  treating  with  Edward  Ash  as  a 
manifest  and  open  transgressor  in  issuing  so  palpable  an 
attack  upon  its  well-known  principles,  and  disowning 
him  on  the  failure  of  due  efforts  to  reclaim  him,  permit- 
ted him  quietly  to  depart  without  bearing  any  open 
testimony  against  his  errors.  He  remained  outside  of 
the  Society  for  some  years,  and  then,  believing,  as  he 
said,  "  that  the  Society  had  come  round  to  his  views," 
he  was  received  by  the  Monthly  Meeting  again  into 
membership,  without  any  change  of  his  sentiments 
respecting  Barclay's  "  Apology,"  or  any  condemnation 
of  his  denial  of  some  of  the  fundamental  doctrines  of  the 
Society ;  the  Monthly  Meeting  considering,  as  was  after- 
wards said  on  their  behalf,  "  that  the  Society  had  vir- 
tually disowned  the  'Apology'  as  a  correct  exposition 

*  Some  of  the  Gurney  party  in  America  may  perhaps  allege  that  they  do  not 
follow  E.  Ash  in  his  denunciations  of  these  doctrines  of  Fox  and  Barclay,  knowing 
that  they  lie  at  the  very  foundation  of  our  profession ;  but  we  must  remember 
that  E.  Ash  was  a  disciple  of  J.  J.  Gurney,  having  lived  at  Norwich  in  his  earlier 
career,  and  been  for  many  years  in  close  intimacy  with  him,  and  that  I.  Crewd- 
6on  and  J.  J.  Gurney  inculcated  the  very  same  errors,  though  the  latter  perhaps 
not  quite  so  unreservedly  and  openly,  except  in  his  tract  on  "Misinterpretation 
of  Scripture,"  etc.  Some  of  them  in  Philadelphia  are  also  of  late  attempting  to 
induce  the  absurd  belief  that  even  George  Fox's  writings  can  be  made  to  coun- 
tenance their  inroads  upon  the  true  spiritual  worship,  as  always  held  and  prac- 
tised by  Friends. 


1873.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


401 


of  its  views  at  that  time."  Accordingly,  in  1873,  he 
published  another  pamphlet,  this  time  aimed  ostensibly 
against  George  Fox,  but  really  and  obviously  against 
the  doctrine  of  Immediate  Revelation  and  Universal 
and  Saving  Light,  so  powerfully  promulgated  by  that 
enlightened  and  truly  wise  man,  and  by  Robert  Barclay 
and  hundreds  of  others  of  our  first  Friends.  In  this 
pamphlet,  though  he  confessed  (p.  34)  to  a  very  limited 
knowledge  of  G.  Fox's  writings,  of  the  character  of 
which  he  says,  "  I  know  nothing  beyond  such  as  are 
included  in  the  Journal,"  which  comprises  less  than  one- 
fourth  of  the  whole  ;  yet  he  had  the  audacity  to  labor  to 
show  that  eminently  gifted  man  to  have  been  a  mere 
enthusiast  in  some  of  his  most  cherished  convictions  and 
most  prominently  important  principles,  very  credulous 
and  self-opinionated  ;  and  to  assert  that  "  mischiefs  re- 
sulted from  his  mistakes  of  faith  and  teaching."  And 
at  the  same  time  that  Ash  speaks  many  times  over  in 
this  attack,  with  remarkable  egotism  and  self-confidence, 
of  his  "own  conviction"  of  many  things  which  he  as- 
serts as  boldly  as  if  they  were  thereby  alone  rendered 
invulnerable,  he  inveighs  against  G.  Fox's  "facility  of 
belief,  vagueness  of  statement,  and  absence  of  adduced 
evidence,"  as  a  conspicuous  fault  in  his  writings — says 
that  "he  himself  and  not  a  few  of  his  brethren  more  or 
less  frequently  mistook  the  workings  of  their  own  im- 
agination, or  other  natural  faculties,  for  divine  com- 
munication or  commands" — that  there  were  "elements 
in  his  mental  character,  which,  had  they  not  been  coun- 
teracted by  others,  might  have  generated  a  real  fanati- 
cism"— and  alleges  that  he  was  "of  small  mental  ac- 
quirements," and  fell  into  mistakes  through  "  his  belief 


402 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN     [CHAP.  XVII. 


that  he  was  the  recipient  of  immediate  revelations  of 
divine  truth"  —  boldly  asserting  that  he  was  alto- 
gether mistaken  in  supposing  himself  commissioned  to 
teach  as  he  did.  The  main  drift,  indeed,  of  the  tract  is 
to  inculcate,  by  bold  but  unsupported  assertions,  the 
belief  that  the  doctrine  of  Immediate  Revelation  and 
Universal  and  Saving  Light,  as  taught  by  George 
Fox  and  our  other  early  Friends,  and  always  owned 
by  true  Friends  from  that  day  to  this,  was  a  mis- 
chievous mistake,  a  mere  delusion,  in  accordance  with 
his  attack,  many  years  before,  on  Robert  Barclay ;  and 
he  clinches  his  argument  (to  his  own  great  exultation) 
by  the  assertion  (p.  40) — alas  !  too  true  in  itself — that 
though  this  doctrine  has  never  been  officially  or  directly 
disowned  "  by  the  collective  body,"  yet  it  has  "  virtually 
disappeared  from  among  us  in  this  country  [England], 
and  I  believe  from  the  larger  portion  of  our  community 
in  America."  Soon  after  issuing  this  publication,  viz., 
on  the  23d  of  twelfth  month,  1873,  Edward  Ash  was 
taken  away  by  death. 

After  all  this  self-evident  departure  from  and  even 
opposition  to  the  very  groundwork  of  our  profession, 
the  Monthly  Meeting  of  Bristol  and  Frenchay  sent  forth 
a  Testimony  of  their  unity  with  him  as  a  member  and 
minister,  full  of  praise  of  his  virtues;  in  which  they 
designated  him  as  "a  faithful  and  loving  minister  of  the 
gospel  of  Christ,"  and  spoke  of  "  his  extreme  conscien- 
tiousness, and  his  sensitiveness  with  regard  to  anything 
which  he  considered  erroneous  or  defective  in  Christian 
doctrine;"  and  with  regard  to  his  ministry,  that  "as  a 
minister  of  the  gospel,  he  was  deservedly  honored 
amongst  us"  ...  .  that  he  "was  largely  engaged  in 


1873.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


403 


declaring,  in  a  clear,  instructive,  and  comprehensive 
manner,  the  unsearchable  riches  of  Christ."  This  Testi- 
mony concerning  him  "was  adopted  by  London  Yearly 
Meeting  in  1874,  though  with  some  totally  ineffectual 
objection,  for  publication  among  its  records ;  the  meeting 
being  exultingly  informed  by  members  of  that  Monthly 
Meeting,  that  "  lie  never  withdrew  a  single  statement 
he  had  made  in  condemnation  of  Barclay's  Apology," 
and  that  "the  Monthly  Meeting  was  well  aware  that 
his  views  were  unchanged."  The  clerk  of  the  Yearly 
Meeting  (J.  Storrs  Fry)  corroborated  this  statement. 
Who  can  doubt  that,  by  the  adoption  and  approval  of 
such  a  document,  London  Yearly  Meeting  publicly  and 
knowingly  sanctioned  Edward  Ash's  course  of  repudia- 
tion of  that  great  work,  the  "  Apology  for  the  True 
Christian  Divinity,"  by  Robert  Barclay? 

Another  minister  (so-called),  Robert  Charleton,  had 
also  come  forth  in  the  same  line  as  Edward  Ash,  in 
assailing  the  principles  of  Robert  Barclay;  and  like- 
wise Robert  Alsop,  then  of  Stoke  Newington,  near  Lon- 
don, who,  early  in  1873,  printed  "for  private  circula- 
tion" (a  mere  subterfuge),  but  spread  widely  abroad,  a 
tract  entitled  "  What  is  the  Gospel  ?" — devoted  to  show- 
ing what  he  supposed  to  be  some  of  Barclay's  mistakes. 
It  seemed  as  if  some  of  the  members — nay,  of  the  minis- 
ters!— of  a  Society  in  whose  arising  and  early  progress 
George  Fox  and  Robert  Barclay  had  been  instruments 
so  conspicuously  made  use  of  by  the  Almighty,  could 
now  never  have  enough,  or  settle  down  in  their  beds, 
until  they  had  destroyed  all  confidence  in  those  ancient 
worthies  as  exponents  of  that  Society's  true  principles! 

These  insidious  but  superficial  attacks  were  promptly 


404 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN     [CHAP.  XVII. 


replied  to  by  several  writers,  some  of  whom  had  been 
attenders  of  the  English  Conference  meetings  before- 
mentioned ;  who  more  or  less  ably  defended  the  doctrine 
of  Immediate  Revelation  as  held  by  Friends,  and  clearly 
demonstrated  the  fallacy  of  those  specious  arguments, 
and  futile  attempts  to  prove  Barclay  mistaken ;  refuting 
also  all  pretension  to  consistency  in  men  holding  such 
views  as  Ash,  Charleton,  and  Alsop  had  put  forth,  still 
professing  to  be  members  and  even  ministers  of  the 
Society  of  Friends.  Yet,  strange  to  say,  most  of  the 
writers  of  these  defences  of  Barclay  still  continued  to 
cling  to  the  lapsed  body  of  London  Yearly  Meeting. 


1876.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


405 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

CONCLUDING    REMARKS — THE  IDENTITY  OF  THE 
SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS. 

On  a  retrospect  of  the  foregoing  sad  development  of 
departure  from  first  principles,  what  do  we  now  see  in 
applying  it  to  the  present  state  of  the  heterogeneous 
body  popularly  called  the  Society  of  Friends?  The 
nominal  Society  probably  never  was  much  more  numer- 
ous than  at  this  day.  How  many  and  opposite  soever 
are  the  divisions,  they  all  claim  to  be  Friends.  But 
are  all  to  be  owned  as  Friends,  who  claim  the  name? 
Schism  necessarily  vitiates  the  claim  of  one  or  the  other 
party  therein,  to  be  the  original  body.  What  has  been 
the  result  of  the  schisms  we  have  been  considering,  in 
this  respect? 

The  early  and  local  schismatic  bodies — the  Barnard- 
ites,  in  Ireland — the  New  Lights,  of  New  England — 
the  Beaconites,  of  England — as  well  as  the  Anti-Slavery 
Friends,  of  Indiana — have  all  passed  out  of  existence  as 
distinct  or  visible  religious  associations.  It  is  true, 
there  are  yet  subsisting  three  very  small  companies  of 
dissentients  from  the  "Smaller  Bodies;" — the  King 
party,  of  New  York — the  Lam  born  party,  of  Ohio — 
and  the  Middle  party,  of  New  England ; — but  neither 
of  these  companies  has  any  apparent  probability  of  a 
continuance.  No  body  of  Friends  elsewhere,  large  or 
small,  owns  them,  or  corresponds  with  them.    Each  one 


406  THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN     [CHAP.  XVIII. 


of  them  appears  totally  isolated  from  the  others,  and 
nursing  the  seeds  of  dissolution.  Leaving  these  then 
out  of  view,  as  we  necessarily  must,  what  do  we  see? 
In  the  first  place,  there  is  the  large  Society  of  "  Hieks- 
ites,"  and  their  adherents  through  local  circumstances 
or  family  tics.  Xext,  there  is  the  much  larger  and  more 
influential  Society  of  "  Gurneyites,"  and  their  adherents 
through  fear,  favor,  affection,  or  views  of  interest.  And 
lastly,  there  are  the  "Smaller  Bodies,"  scattered  in 
Pennsylvania,  Xew  Jersey,  Maryland,  Xew  York,  Ohio, 
Iowa,  Indiana,  Xew  England,  and  Old  England,  and 
even  a  few  in  Xorway  ;  though  the  hulk  of  the  members 
in  the  latter  have  recently  placed  themselves  in  connec- 
tion with  the  lapsed  Yearly  Meeting  of  London. 

It  may  be  thought  by  some,  that  a  fourth  class  should 
be  here  enumerated,  viz.,  the  middle  party,  which  at 
present  controls  the  Yearly  Meeting  of  Philadelphia. 
But  as  this  class  has  from  the  first  practically  promoted 
the  success  of  the  Gurneyan  system  by  its  connivances, 
though  sometimes  in  words  uttering  weak  and  unavail- 
ing lamentations  over  it,  and  has  never  given  the  least 
support  (but  always  the  contrary)  to  the  Smaller  Bodies 
which  have  become  the  only  consistent  and  earnest  tes- 
timony bearers  against  the  doctrinal  innovations  of 
Gurneyism,  and  as  this  middle  party  seems  most  likely 
to  succumb  eventually  to  the  gradual  but  continued 
pressure  of  the  innovators,  whom  it  has  had  no  courage 
effectually  to  withstand,  the  Gurneyites  and  the  Middle 
party  must  in  reality  be  considered  as  of  one  class.  We 
may  indeed  query,  in  case  the  middle  party  should  con- 
tinue many  years  longer,  whether  they  will  not  become 
"hewers  of  wood  and  drawers  of  water"  for  the  great 


1876.]  THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


407 


majority  still  owned  by  them  as  the  Society  of  Friends. 
Why  have  they  not  taken  a  more  decided,  consistent, 
and  effective  stand  against  Gurneyism  ?  Is  it  not  mani- 
festly because  they  do  not,  after  all,  truly  realize  for 
themselves,  nor  appreciate  to  the  full,  and  consequently 
dare  not  acknowledge  to  the  world,  and  act  consistently 
with  that  acknowledgment,  that  the  new  system  of  doc- 
trines is,  equally  with  the  Hieksian  system,  a  fundamental 
departure  from  Quakerism,  or  the  pure  faith  of  the  gos- 
pel, and  therefore  ought  to  be  testified  against  with 
equal  faithfulness  ?* 

It  is  well  known  that  these  three  claimants  to  the 
once  despised  and  persecuted,  but  now  flattered  name  of 
Quakerism,  have  no  mutual  fellowship  one  with  the 
other,  but  are  fundamentally  opposed  in  principle.  Yet 
the  true  Society  of  Friends  is  and  must  be  but  one,  the 
world  over.  It  came  forth  originally  founded  on  a  pure 
faith  in  Christ,  the  divine  Head  and  Bridegroom  ;  pro- 
fessing and  aiming  (without  arrogating  to  itself  to  ex- 
clude other  seeking  souls  purely  depending  on  the  same 
Lord)  to  be  the  visibly  gathered  representation  of  the 
militant  church — the  spouse  of  Christ.  This  was  a 
high  profession  ;  but  thus  it  was.  Alas!  alas!  how  has 
the  mighty  fallen  !  Has  it,  since  those  days,  maintained 
that  eminent  and  favored  position?    Is  Christ  divided  ? 

*  If  there  is  life  in  the  body,  and  an  earnest  concern  to  avoid  the  inroads  of 
error,  how  is  it  that  they  suiter  the  Twelfth  Street  Meeting  in  Philadelphia  to 
go  on  year  after  year,  openly  fraternizing  with  the  schism  and  promoting  the 
glaring  departures  from  the  principles  and  practices  of  Friends?  Why  does  not 
Philadelphia  Quarterly  Meeting,  if  it  really  wishes  to  stand  for  the  ancient  faith, 
call  that  Meeting  to  account  for  its  long-continued  course  herein  ?  Yet  their 
periodical  paper,  "  The  Friend,"  still  constantly  speaks  of  the  Gurneyites  as 
"Friends,"  and  of  their  Yearly  Meetings  as  "Sister  Churches,"  and  "Sister 
Yearly  Meetings;"  thus  manifestly  owning  them  as  one  people  with  themselves. 


408 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN     [CHAP.  XVIII. 


Are  his  members  divided?  Can  any  be  called  members 
of  his  body,  or  members  of  the  church  or  spouse  of 
Christ,  who  are  denying  him,  either  in  regard  to  what  he 
did  for  us,  in  that  prepared  body,  or  in  what  he  is  doing 
for  us  within  us,  by  his  blessed  Spirit,  as  he  is  the  Word 
nigh  in  the  heart,  the  Light  within  or  inward  Light,  the 
baptizer  with  fire  and  with  the  Holy  Ghost,  the  great 
purifier  and  sanctifier  and  leader  of  his  people  ? 

But  to  come  down  to  the  question  of  our  own  day, 
even  of  the  identity  of  the  true  Society  of  Friends.  It 
was  the  doctrine  of  Robert  Barclay  and  all  our  early 
Friends,  and  has  indeed  become,  as  it  were,  an  acknowl- 
edged axiom  among  most  serious  professing  Christians 
of  the  present  day,  that  they  who  faithfully  maintain 
the  original  fundamental  doctrines  and  testimonies  of  a 
religious  Society,  have  alone  a  rightful  claim  to  be  that 
Society — not  those  who  introduce  or  promote  innovations 
inconsistent  with  the  original  foundation.  Would  any 
of  us  be  willing  to  acknowledge  as  Episcopalians,  a  body 
who  should  arise  among  them,  holding  and  teaching 
Unitarian  doctrines?  Or  as  Presbyterians,  such  as 
should  teach  among  them  the  doctrines  and  practices  of 
the  Romish  church?  Or  could  a  Moravian  congrega- 
tion, for  some  reason  or  other  claiming  to  belong  to  the 
great  Roman  "Catholic"  body,  be  by  any  possibility 
acknowledged  by  that  body,  or  considered  by  others  as 
having  a  valid  claim  to  assume  its  name,  in  order  to 
open  its  way  among  the  people  ? 

With  respect  to  the  Hicksian  Society,  it  has  been 
abundantly  proved  that  they  came  forth  on  the  avowed 
ground  of  a  difference  of  doctrine,  and  in  support  of 
Elias  Hicks  against  those  who  condemned  his  doctrinal 


1876.]  THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY.  409 


errors.  What  these  were,  we  have  already  seen  in  the 
first  volume  of  this  work.  Suffice  it  here  to  say,  that 
they  were  destructive  of  the  original  tenets  of  the  So- 
ciety. It  cannot  be  alleged  that  he  did  not  hold  or 
teach  these  errors ;  for  he  openly  avowed  to  the  sten- 
ographer his  approval  of  the  printed  Sermons  in  which, 
as  well  as  in  his  Letters,  these  errors  were  characteristic- 
ally abundant.  Neither  can  it  be  said  that  his  follow- 
ers were  not  aware  of  them ;  for  notwithstanding  the  free 
public  animadversions  upon  them,  they  published  them 
abroad  over  the  land  in  his  Sermons  and  otherwise,  and 
many  of  them  taught  the  very  same  things,  and  ear- 
nestly contended  for  their  correctness.  And  to  this  day, 
large  numbers  of  their  preachers  and  influential  mem- 
bers are  well  known  to  be  equally  unsound  as  to  the 
Christian  faith. 

It  is  true  that  at  the  present  day  there  are  on  the 
other  hand  some  estimable  members  of  the  Hicksian 
body,  who  would  not  wish  to  be  supposed,  as  individu- 
als, to  hold  the  gross  errors  of  principle  for  which  Elias 
Hicks  was  condemned  on  the  one  hand,  while  he  was 
supported  on  the  other.  These  may  be  said  mainly  to 
take  a  negative  position  as  to  doctrine,  having  really  no 
living  effective  testimony  to  sound  doctrine,  nor  any 
against  the  false.  Thus  they  remain  attached  to  a  So- 
ciety which,  to  say  the  least,  is  tainted  with  a  denial  of 
"  the  Lord  that  bought  them,"  by  the  public  teaching 
of  very  many  of  its  prominent  teachers,  as  well  as  by 
the  utterances  of  Elias  Hicks — a  Society  which  has 
never  cleared  its  hands  by  any  official  disavowal  of  the 
palpable  errors  of  these  leaders;  and  which,  indeed,  no- 
toriously has  been  and  still  is  without  the  power  to 
veil,   n  —35 


410  THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN     [CHAP.  XVIII. 


purify  itself  from  this  taint,  by  testifying  distinctly 
against  them  and  their  false  principles,  and  effectually 
checking  their  influence  within  its  borders.  Doubtless, 
some  of  their  members  (for  whom,  as  individuals,  I 
have  a  true  respect  and  solicitude)  lament  the  teachings 
of  such  evil  doctrines  among  them  ;  but  there  it  ends. 
Why  arc  they  without  the  power  to  remove  the  taint  ? 
Because  the  poison  has  taken  too  deep  a  hold  of  the 
body  at  large — too  many  are  concerned  in  it — they  have 
too  long  connived  at  it — the  bulk  of  their  people  love 
to  have  it  so — and  they  could  not  now  clear  it  out  from 
among  them,  in  their  collective  capacity,  for  they  are 
greatly  in  the  minority.  There  are  indeed  but  few 
among  them  who  are  totally  clear  from  the  influence  of 
this  poison,  and  qualified  distinctly  to  perceive  and  act 
upon  the  difference  between  sound  doctrine  and  un- 
sound, or  even  to  appreciate  and  acknowledge  the  baleful 
influence  of  the  latter  in  religious  association.  This  is 
an  undeniable  characteristic  of  most  even  of  the  honest- 
hearted  among  that  people,  and  many  of  them  are  openly 
favorable  to  great  latitude  of  belief.  Such,  alas,  is  the 
benumbing  result  of  unsafe  association  in  religious  pro- 
fession. 

One  of  their  prominent,  talented,  and  moderate  men, 
Samuel  M.  Janney,  has  lately  published  a  work  in  four 
volumes,  12mo,  entitled,  "  A  History  of  the  Society  of 
Friends."  The  fourth  volume  exemplifies  the  truth  of 
the  remarks  made  in  the  last  paragraph.  It  is  largely 
characterized  by  a  dissertation  (from  its  author's  stand- 
point) on  the  Hicksian  separation.  In  the  prior  portion 
of  the  volume  (page  144),  the  author  makes  a  sort  of 
apology  for  some  of  E.  Hicks's  written  sentiments,  im- 


1876.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


411 


plying  that  the  letters  written  by  him  during  the  last 
year  of  his  life  (1829),  should  be  considered  as  express- 
ing the  settled  opinions  of  that  period,  when  he  "was  81 
years  of  age,  rather  than  some  of  "  an  earlier  date," 
which  he  thinks  were  written  "  without  due  consider- 
ation." Yet  he  appears  very  careful  not  to  specify  what 
sentiments  these  were,  to  which  he  alludes  as  "  much  to 
be  regretted."  But  a  little  after  this  (on  page  147),  he 
says :  "  This  much-abused  minister  of  Christ,  as  we 
shall  prove  in  the  sequel,  uniformly  asserted  his  belief  in 
the  Scriptural  testimony  concerning  the  divinity  and 
mission  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  gave  assurance  of  his  sin- 
cerity by  a  holy  life."  Did  he  not  know  that  the  public 
have  access  to  E.  Hicks's  printed  Sermons,  affording 
abundant  proof  to  the  contrary  ? 

In  a  subsequent  part  of  the  same  volume,*  S.  M. 
Janney  makes  the  acknowledgment,  that,  "Those  who 
are  familiar  with  the  writings  of  the  early  Friends,  must 
have  observed  the  deep  reverence  with  which  they  speak 
of  the  blessed  Jesus,  as  the  immaculate  Son  of  God,  and 
Saviour  of  men."  And  on  page  61,  he  quotes  George 
"Whitehead  as  saying,  "And  in  the  same  love  the  Son 
freely  gave  his  life,  yea,  even  himself,  a  ransom  for  all, 
for  a  testimony  in  due  time."  But  he  does  not  state 
how  different  this  is  from  the  style  in  which  Elias 
Hicks  always  spoke  of  the  Lord  Jesus. 

Yet,  notwithstanding  these  admissions,  the  same  vol- 
ume is  partly  occupied  by  a  superficial  account  of  the 
schism  in  Ireland,!  in  which  Hannah  Barnard  was  .so 
conspicuous,  with  an  obvious  endeavor  to  screen  her 

*  Page  5:5  of  his  Treatise  on  the  Separation. 

t  For  an  account  of  which,  see  the  first  volume  of  this  work,  Chapter  II. 


412  THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN     [CHAP.  XVIII. 


and  others  from  the  serious  charges  brought  against 
them  respecting  unsound  doctrines,  and  to  make  it  ap- 
pear that  she  was  treated  with  harshness  and  irregu- 
larity. In  the  same  manner,  but  with  apparently  greater 
care,  the  attempt  is  likewise  made  to  cover  up  and  keep 
out  of  view  the  principal  evidences  of  error  on  the  part 
of  Elias  Hicks,  and  to  represent  him  as  promulgating 
the  doctrines  of  ancient  Quakerism.  But  in  endeavor- 
ing to  do  this,  we  shall  soon  see  that  he  unintentionally 
proves  him  to  have  been  unsound  in  the  faith,  even  in 
the  passages  brought  forward  to  show  him  as  sound. 
Janney  here  quotes  certain  parts  of  printed  Letters  of 
E.  Hicks,  wherein  he  seems  to  approach  sound  doc- 
trine ;  but  keeps  out.  of  view  other  Letters;  and  very 
numerous  passages  in  his  Sermons,  wherein  his  ex- 
tremely erroneous  sentiments  are  particularly  prominent. 
Yet  even  in  the  parts  selected  carefully  by  S.  M.  Janney, 
we  find  such  expressions  as  the  following  (page  142) : 
that  "the  light  within"  is  "our  only  standard  principle 
from  the  beginning,"  and  "the  only  rule  of  faith  and 
practice" — thus  shutting  out  the  Scriptures  as  even  a 
"secondary  rule."  The  apostle  Paul  was  not  of  this 
mind  when  he  said  that  they  are  "able  to  make  wise 
unto  salvation,  through  faith  in  Christ  Jesus,"  and  are 
"  profitable  for  doctrine,  for  reproof,  for  correction,  for 
instruction  in  righteousness,  that  the  man  of  God  may 
be  perfect,  thoroughly  furnished  unto  all  good  works." 
On  page  143,  he  quotes  E.  Hicks  as  saying  that  "all 
parts  of  them  [the  Scriptures]  that  could  not  be  known 
but  by  revelation,  were  written  by  holy  men  as  they 
were  inspired  by  the  Holy  Ghost" — but  adding  that 
"  when  the  Scriptures  have  directed  us  to  this  light 


1876.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


413 


within,  there  they  must  stop'' — as  if  they  were  of  no  fur- 
ther use.*  And  (page  145)  that  "  the  Book  called  the 
Scriptures"  appears  "to  have  been  the  cause  of  fourfold 
more  harm  than  good  to  Christendom  since  the  apostles' 
days" — and  (page  146)  that  "it  is  clear  they  [the  Scrip- 
tures] were  not  in  any  wise  accessory  to  this  infant  be- 
ginning of  reformation  "  under  Luther  and  his  fellows. 
These  latter  expressions  occur  in  what  Janney  admits  to 
have  been  an  "  ill-digested  letter."  Of  the  same  ten- 
dency is  a  passage  quoted  by  Janney  (at  page  148),  in 
which  E.  Hicks  appears  as  querying  thus  with  regard 
to  the  Bible:  "Yet  at  the  same  time,  may  it  not  be  one 
of  the  best  books,  if  rightly  used  under  the  guidance  of 
the  Holy  Spirit?" — but  adding  immediately,  that  "if 
abused,  like  every  other  blessing,  it  becomes  a  curse /"f 

On  page  155,  we  find  him  quoted  by  Janney,  as  say- 
ing of  Jesus  Christ,  that  "he  came  to  be  a  Saviour  to 
that  nation,  and  was  limited  to  that  nation" — and  (p. 
158)  that  lie  healed  them  "of  all  their  legal  sins" — 
(p.  159)  that  by  John's  baptism  Jesus  received  "a  more 

*  Wiliiam  Penn,  after  declaring  how  the  Scriptures  had  been  "  ever  blessed 
to  "  him,  and  charging  his  children  "  to  read  them  daily,"  says :  "  For  they  were 
given  forth  by  holy  men  of  God  in  divers  ages,  as  they  were  moved  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  ;  and  are  the  declared  and  revealed  mind  and  will  of  the  Holy  God  to 
mankind  under  divers  dispensations ;  and  they  are  certainly  able  to  make  the 
man  of  God  perfect,  through  faith,  unto  salvation;  being  such  a  clear  testi- 
mony to  the  salvation  that  is  of  God,  through  Christ  the  second  Adam,  the 
Light  of  the  world,  the  quickening  Spirit,  who  is  full  of  grace  and  truth  (whose 
light,  grace,  Spirit,  and  truth,  bear  witness  to  them  in  every  sensible  soul),  as 
they  frequently,  plainly,  and  solemnly  bear  testimony  to  the  Light,  Spirit, 
Grace,  and  Truth,  both  in  himself,  and  in  and  to  his  people,  to  their  sanctifi- 
cation,  justification,  redemption,  and  consolation,  and  in  all  men  to  their  visit- 
ation, reproof,  and  conviction  in  their  evil  ways  " — Penn's  Advice  to  his  Children. 

t  These  expressions  are  in  a  letter  of  E.  Hicks,  in  1825,  to  Moses  Brown,  of 
Providence,  R.  I.,  in  reply  to  one  from  tne  latter,  tenderly  and  faithfully  labor- 
ing with  him  on  account  of  his  errors.  See  "The  Friend,"  Philadelphia,  Vol. 
Ill,  page  333. 


414 


THE  SOCIETY  OP  FRIENDS  IN      [CHAP.  XVIII. 


full  effusion"  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  "which  qualified  him 
for  his  gospel  mission."  On  p.  160,  Hicks,  as  quoted 
by  Janney,  places  "  the  miraculous  conception  of  Jesus, 
and  of  Isaac,  and  of  John  the  Baptist"  on  an  equality — 
and  (p.  162)  says  that  Jesus  did  not  arrive  "at  a  full 
state  of  sonship,"  "until  he  had  gone  through  the  last 
institute  of  the  law  dispensation,  viz.,  John's  watery 
baptism" — thus  not  only  making  the  mistake  of  in- 
cluding John's  baptism  as  a  part  of  the  dispensation  of 
the  law  (whereas  it  was  altogether  intermediate),  but 
alleging  that  Christ  Jesus  was  not  fully  the  Son  of  God 
until  after  he  had  partaken  of  it.  Immediately  he  adds, 
"  he  then  witnessed  the  fulness  of  the  second  birth,  being' 
now  born  into  the  nature,  spirit,  and  fulness  of  the 
heavenly  Father."  So  that  the  blessed  Jesus,  accord- 
ing to  Hicks,  and  his  advocate,  S.  M.  Janney,  stood  in 
need  of  regeneration — "the  second  birth  !"  And  we  may 
here  understand  how  much  E.  Hicks  meant,  when  he 
avowed,  as  he  did  sometimes,  a  belief  in  the  Divinity  of 
Christ.  Did  S.  M.  Janney  see  this,  when  he  indorsed 
him  as  uniformly  advocating  the  sound  views  of  primi- 
tive Friends?  On  page  165,  he  is  quoted  by  Janney  as 
denying  that  the  crucifixion  "  was  an  atonement  for  any 
sins  but  the  legal  sins  of  the  Jews,"  and  adding  his  belief 
that  it  "  was  a,  full  type  of  the  inward  sacrifice  that  every 
sinner  must  make,  in  giving  up  that  sinful  life  of  his  own 
will,  etc." — only  a  type,  after  all ! 

Would  any  man,  sound  in  the  faith  of  Christ,  express 
himself  after  this  manner,  or  would  any  man,  sound  in 
the  faith  of  Christ  sanction  such  expressions  ?  That  our 
primitive  Friends  held  any  such  sentiments  as  these,  we 
may  safely  and  totally  deny.    Indeed,  it  has  been  over 


1876.]  THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


415 


and  again  publicly  demonstrated,  that  such  allegations 
are  only  a  revival  of  the  old  oft-refuted  slanders  put  forth 
against  Friends  by  their  persecutors  and  by  apostates  and 
enemies  of  the  Truth. 

As  to  what  S.  M.  Janney  says  of  the  great  latitude  of 
doctrine  which  he  thinks  was  allowed  in  the  early  times 
of  the  Society,  it  has  no  solid  foundation.  The  genuine 
teachings  and  guidance  of  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  Jesus 
never  led  to  such  latitudinarianism,  or  to  such  confusion 
of  tongues  as  would  have  been  the  result.  The  spouse 
of  Christ  was  never  intended — nor  was  the  Society  of 
the  People  called  Quakers — to  be  a  heterogeneous  mix- 
ture of  all  sorts  of  opinions.  The  early  F riends,  not- 
withstanding all  the  attempts  of  the  disciples  of  Elias 
Hicks  to  assert  the  contrary,  had  a  firm  faith — and  that 
a  sound  one  too — in  the  great  truths  of  Christian  doc- 
trine.* And  there  is  ample  material  in  the  history  of 
the  Society,  to  prove,  not  only  that  they  were  no  Socin- 
ians,  but  that  they  were  alive  to  all  attempts  to  pervert 
or  misrepresent  their  faith  in  the  Son  of  God,  his  mirac- 
ulous birth,  his  divine  life,  his  propitiatory  death,  his 
resurrection  and  ascension  to  the  right  hand  of  the 
Father,  where  he  now  sitteth  as  our  great  high  Priest, 
our  Mediator  and  Intercessor. 

Thomas  Ellvvood,  in  replying  to  George  Keith's  book, 
accusing  William  Penn  and  his  brethren  of  Deism,  says 
that  George  Keith  well  knew  that  neither  he  himself 
while  he  was  a  Friend,  "nor  William  Penn,  nor  any  of 

*  This  is  developed  with  great  clearness  in  the  "Defence  of  the  Christian 
Doetrines  of  the  Society  of  Friends,"  compiled  by  Thomas  Evans,  Edward  Hettle, 
and  Joseph  Roherts,  Philadelphia,  1825. 


416 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN'    [CHAP.  XVIII. 


"  the  Quakers,  were  ever  deists — ever  did  deny,  disown, 
"  or  disbelieve  the  coming,  incarnation,  sufferings,  and 
"death  of  Christ  as  man  outwardly  in  the  flesh,  his  res- 
"  urrection,  ascension,  and  mediatorship — and  he  [G.  K.] 
"himself  has  undesignedly  acquitted  W.  Penn  from  his 
"  present  charge  of  deism,  by  a  story  he  told  in  his  first 
"Narrative,  page  38,  that  upon  some  one  urging  him  to 
"give  an  instance  of  one  English  Quaker  that  he  ever 
"heard  pray  to  Christ;  W.  Penn  being  present  said,  'I 
"  am  an  Englishman,  and  a  Quaker,  and  I  own  I  have  oft 
"prayed  to  Christ  Jesus — even  him  that  was  crucified.' 
"This  he  [G.  K.]  says  was  in  the  year  1678."* 

In  those  days  the  denial  of  these  doctrines  was  not  a 
prevalent  or  prominent  error  in  professing  Christendom  ; 
but  when  such  denial  did  occur  among  those  belonging 
to  the  Society,  means  were  decidedly  taken  to  clear  the 
body  from  such  a  reproach.  A  very  plain  evidence  of 
this  may  be  cited  in  the  case  of  Jeffrey  Bullock,  who 
denied  the  divinity  and  atonement  of  Christ,  and  was 
disowned,f  so  early  as  1675,  fifteen  years  before  the 
death  of  George  Fox. 

We  must  no  less  emphatically  deny  the  allegation  of 
this  author,  that  the  controversy  previous  to  the  Separa- 
tion of  1827  was  between  ancient  Quakerism,  as  repre- 
sented by  Hicks,  and  modern  error,  as  represented  by 
Gurney.  The  views  of  J.  J.  Gurney  were  scarcely 
known  at  all  in  this  land  at  the  date  when  the  opposi- 
tion to  E.  Hicks's  errors  became  developed  ;  and  those 
who  prominently  opposed  him,  with  few  exceptions,  were 

*  Life,  etc.,  of  T.  Elhvood,  London,  1714,  p.  442. 

t  "  Historical  Memoirs  of  the  Society  of  Friends,"  by  W.  H.,  2d  edition,  Phil- 
adelphia, p.  247. 


1876.]  THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


417 


then  sound  in  the  ancient  faith  of  the  Society,  and 
brought  forward  boldly  and  copiously  the  ever  acknowl- 
edged writings  of  our  early  Friends  (and  not  the  modern 
ones),  to  prove  E.  Hicks's  departure  from  the  faith  of 
the  gospel.  And  the  evidence  they  thus  brought  for- 
ward was  cumulative  and  overwhelming,  and  clearly 
proved  that  the  Hicks  party  had  shamefully  garbled 
and  falsified  the  statements  of  ancient  Friends  in  endeav- 
oring to  make  them  say  what  they  never  meant  to  say. 
This  has  been  thrown  before  the  world  abundantly  in 
print,  and  how  can  such  a  writer  as  S.  M.  Janney  be 
ignorant  of  it  ? 

But  we  here  see  the  most  approved  author  of  the  pres- 
ent day  among  the  Hicksites,  and  one  of  the  most 
moderate  in  the  expression  of  their  views,  sanctioning 
several  of  the  unsound  sentiments  of  Elias  Hicks,  under 
the  erroneous  plea  that  he  was  advocating  the  principles 
held  by  the  early  Friends.  Can,  therefore,  any  one 
reasonably  doubt  that  the  body  of  these  people  are  still 
clinging  to  the  same  views,  so  far  at  least  as  they  really 
have  any  characteristic  doctrines  ?  That  they  are  not, 
and  never  were,  the  doctrines  of  true  Friends,  has  already 
been  sufficiently  insisted  upon.  It  is  true,  as  they  say, 
that  the  great  distinguishing  principle  of  the  Society  of 
Friends  has  always  been  their  faith  in  the  Holy  Spirit 
as  the  primary  leader,  and  guide  into  all  truth.  But 
this  faith  never  could  lead  any  to  deny  the  plain  testi- 
mony of  Holy  Scripture  to  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  as  the 
Son  and  Sent  of  the  Father,  born  of  the  Virgin  Mary, 
and  one  with  Him  to  all  eternity,  or  to  discard  his  death 
on  the  cross  as  an  atonement  for  our  sins.  Therefore, 
their  denial  or  evasion  of  these  precious  truths  must  con- 
vol.  ii. — 36 


418  THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN     [CHAP.  XVIII. 


clusively  prove  that  their  professed  faith  in  the  Holy 
Spirit  is  not  a  true  and  living  and  experimental  faith 
therein,  being  contrary  to  the  plain  testimony  of  the 
Spirit  itself.  And  therefore  the  party  holding  those 
false  doctrines,  or  permitting  them  to  be  held  and  taught 
among  them,  cannot  be  the  true  Society  of  Friends.  It 
behoves  the  honest-hearted  among  them,  to  see  to  it. 

With  respect  to  theGurney  party,  and  their  adherents 
through  fear,  favor,  affection,  or  views  of  interest — large 
and  influential  as  it  is — its  claims  to  be  the  true  Society 
of  Friends  are  no  less  hollow  than  those  of  the  Hicks 
party.  We  have  seen  in  a  previous  chapter,  how  Lon- 
don Yearly  Meeting  clearly  committed  itself  to  a  fellow- 
ship with  the  doctrines  contained  in  the  publications  of 
J.  J.  Gurney,  not  only  by  frequently  sending  him  forth 
as  a  minister  in  unity,  but  by  indorsing  the  eulogy  of 
his  soundness  contained  in  the  official  Memorial  of  him 
after  his  decease.  We  have  seen,  too,  how  that  pre- 
viously, in  1836,  they  had  taken  upon  themselves  the 
enunciation  of  one  of  his  favorite  dogmas — that  the 
Bible  is  "  the  appointed  means  of  making  known  to  us 
the  blessed  truths  of  Christianity" — "the  only  divinely 
authorized  record  of  the  doctrines  which  we  are  bound  as 
Christians  to  believe,  and  of  the  moral  principles  which 
are  to  regulate  our  actions" — a  dogma  which  opened  the 
door  wide  for  all  the  subsequent  innovations.  We  have 
also  seen  how,  afterwards,  they  promptly  acknowledged 
fellowship  with  all  the  bodies  in  America  which  sepa- 
rated on  the  ground  of  opposition  to  any  check  being 
put  upon  the  spread  of  his  doctrines,  as  well  as  with 
those  who  went  bodily,  without  separation  among  them- 
selves, in  the  same  direction.    And  they  who  have 


1876.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


419 


watched  subsequent  events  have  observed  how  largely 
and  how  rapidly  not  only  London  Yearly  Meeting,  but 
all  the  others  involved  in  the  same  views,  have  gone 
into  either  actual  or  conniving  sanction  of  successive 
practical  innovations,  entirely  foreign  to  the  character  of 
Friends,  but  the  genuine  fruit  of  the  self-activity  and 
worldly  religion  cherished  and  promoted  by  the  new 
doctrines. 

It  may  perhaps  be  said,  on  behalf  of  Philadelphia  and 
Ohio  Yearly  Meetings,  controlled  as  they  have  been  of 
late  by  the  middle  party,  that  they  have  never  officially 
sanctioned  the  departures  in  doctrine,  but  testified,  years 
ago,  against  them,  and  may  therefore  now  rest  upon  that 
testimony  ;  and  that  many  of  their  members  still  con- 
tinue to  lament  the  defection  in  principle  and  practice, 
and  occasionally  a  document  is  put  forth,  deprecating 
certain  features  of  its  development,  particularly  pressing 
upon  their  attention  for  the  time.  But  do  not  they, 
likewise,  practically  connive  at  the  heresy,  and  join  in 
with  its  advocates — to  a  degree  which  the  pure  truth 
could  never  sanction — in  withholding  now  for  many 
years  any  clear  and  open  testimony  against  it  as  a  whole, 
or  any  recognition  of  those  who  are  openly  standing 
against  it — in  refraining  from  putting  the  plain  recpiisi- 
tions  of  the  Discipline  in  practice  against  it — and,  so  far 
at  least  as  Philadelphia  Yearly  Meeting  is  concerned, 
in  constantly  amalgamating  themselves  with  it,  and  thus 
sanctioning  the  assumed  position  of  those  engaged  in  it, 
by  receiving  the  ministers  from  all  parts  of  the  Gurney 
body,  and  joining  their  members  continually  thereto 
through  the  medium  of  certificates  of  membership,  on 
removal?    "We  recommend  this  family  to  your  Chris- 


420  THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  EN      [CHAP.  XVIII. 


tian  care  and  oversight."  Who  can  hear  these  words 
read,  without  knowing  that  it  is  an  acknowledgment  of 
fellowship?  What  act  could  be  a  more  practical  or 
emphatic  acknowledgment  of  it  ?  On  the  other  hand, 
no  certificates  are  thought  of  as  admissible  to  the 
"Smaller  Bodies,"  or  their  meetings  for  worship  to  be 
attended  by  any  of  their  members,  but  those  who  join 
any  of  these  are  generally  promptly  disowned.  Well, 
but,  it  is  said,  the  members  of  these  large  Yearly  Meet- 
ings are  still  members  of  the  Society,  and  we  cannot  cast 
them  off :  if  we  did,  we  should  entirely  isolate  ourselves, 
sanction  the  separations  which  have  already  taken  place, 
and  promote  one  within  our  own  borders,  which  we 
cannot  bear  to  think  of.  Does  such  reasoning  justify  a 
continuing;  to  sanction  the  standing;  of  those  who  are 
known  to  be  engaged  in  revolutionizing-  the  Societv? 
Is  it  not  doing  evil  that  good  may  come?  Do  they 
argue  thus  in  regard  to  the  Hicksites  ?  Then  why  per- 
sist in  such  a  course  with  those  whose  doctrines  are  no 
less  a  departure — but  a  far  more  insidious  departure — 
from  the  fundamental  principles  of  Quakerism — of 
primitive  Christianity  ?  It  has  become  notorious  that 
J.  J.  Gurney's  system  was  antagonistic  to  the  spirit  of 
true  Quakerism  ;  but  not  only  is  it  adhered  to  by  the 
great  body  of  the  Yearly  Meetings  formerly  called 
Orthodox,  to  distinguish  them  from  the  followers  of 
Elias  Hicks ;  but  advances  are  made  by  the  members, 
of  latter  years,  and  either  tacitly  or  openly  allowed  by 
all  those  bodies,  practically  far  beyond  what  was  the 
limit  of  the  inconsistencies  during  the  lifetime  of  J.  J. 
Gurney.  These  are  too  well  known  to  need  more  than 
an  incidental  mention  here. 


1876.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


421 


Philadelphia  Yearly  Meeting,  it  is  true,  has  avoided 
any  official  sanction  of  the  obvious  departures  from  many 
of  our  testimonies  prevalent  among  the  other  Yearly 
Meetings,  and  to  a  considerable  extent  known  also  to 
be  existing  within  her  own  limits;  yet,  as  we  have 
already  seen,  the  avowed  partisans  of  Gurneyism  among 
its  members  are  continued  by  it  in  places  of  great  trust 
and  influence,  and  the  same  class  coming  from  other 
parts  are  received  as  if  they  were  unquestionably  mem- 
bers, and  the  fundamental  nature  of  the  departure  on 
the  part  of  the  Gurney  meetings  is  almost  lost  sight  of, 
or  merely  alluded  to  as  some  cause  of  uneasiness.  This 
was  rendered  particularly  and  renewedly  evident  in  the 
action- of  Philadelphia  Yearly  Meeting  of  1875,  on  the 
occasion  of  a  bequest  of  money  (about  $10,000)  left  to  it, 
and  a  like  sum  to  three  other  Yearly  Meetings,  on  the 
condition,  twice  expressed  in  the  will,  of  "unity  with 
London  Yearly  Meeting."  After  considerable  discussion 
of  so  insidious  a  proposition,  it  was  concluded  to  accept 
the  legacy,  and  a  Trustee  was  appointed  to  receive  the 
money,  when  offered  by  the  executors,  and  apply  it 
according  to  the  wishes  of  the  testator!  Thus  the 
Yearly  Meeting  of  Philadelphia  not  only  placed  itself 
once  more  on  a  footing  of  brotherhood  with  the  three 
Gurneyan  Yearly  Meetings  mentioned  in  the  will  as  its 
co-recipients,  but  bartered  away  for  a  sum  of  money  and 
a  hollow  peace  with  the  Gurney  party,  what  little  re- 
mained of  its  own  testimony  against  the  course  of  Lon- 
don Yearly  Meeting.  It  did  not  dare  to  say  whether 
it  was  or  was  not  in  unity  with  that  meeting,  whose 
certificates  for  ministers  it  had  been  for  years  past  reject- 
ing; but  allowed  the  world  to  take  it  for  granted  that 


422 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN      [CHAP.  XVIII. 


it  had  no  testimony  against  it,  by  concluding  to  receive 
the  money,  which  it  was  twice  told  in  the  will  was  to  be 
given  to  a  body  "  in  unity  with  the  London  Yearly 
Meeting!"  All  the  sophistical  reasoning  (in  The  Friend 
and  elsewhere)  about  the  application  of  the  money  to 
the  publication  of  the  writings  of  early  Friends,  cannot 
change  the  fact  that  Philadelphia  Yearly  Meeting  has, 
by  its  conclusion  to  accept  money  left  under  such  a  pro- 
viso, ranged  itself,  quietly  but  undeniably,  beside  the 
other  bodies  which  fraternize  with  London  in  its  apos- 
tasy. The  word  "apostasy"  is  here  used  deliberately, 
and  in  its  full  sense,  under  the  conviction  that  the  Gur- 
ney  system,  with  its  results  and  concomitants,  is  fully  as 
much  an  apostasy  from  the  original  and  fundamental 
principles  of  the  Society  of  Friends,  as  was  the  early 
Roman  church  from  the  Christianity  of  primitive  times. 
Can  the  Yearly  Meeting  of  Philadelphia  be  fairly  sup- 
posed to  bear  a  living  and  faithful  testimony  against 
this  great  revolution,  under  such  circumstances?  Has 
she  not  already  fallen  from  her  high  estate  into  the 
snares  laid  for  her  by  the  great  enemy  of  truth ;  and 
will  she  not  be  swallowed  up  of  the  vortex  on  whose 
margin  she  has  been  so  long  dallying  with  the  danger, 
and  in  which  so  many  have  been  carried  away  ? 

A  living  church  must  not  consort  with  dead  bodies. 
But  when  we  take  as  it  were  a  bird's-eye  view  of  the 
condition  of  London  Yearly  Meeting,  who  can  doubt 
that  it  has  lost  its  vitality  as  a  portion  of  the  true  So- 
ciety of  Friends  ? 

In  the  first  place,  it  has  sanctioned,  in  one  way  or 
other  repeatedly,  the  errors  of  J.  J.  Gurney,  Edward 
Ash,  and  others,  amounting  to  an  abandonment  of  the 


1876.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


423 


Society's  long-established  and  well-known  principles 
respecting  the  universal  and  saving  light  of  Christ  as 
the  primary  rule  of  faith  and  practice,  and  the  Scrip- 
tures as  secondary  to  it,  and  a  substitution  for  it  of  the 
Scriptures  as  the  first  guide,  the  only  divinely  author- 
ized record  and  appointed  means  of  a  knowledge  of 
divine  truth — a  substitution  of  justification  by  a  mere 
belief  and  confession  of  Christ's  work  without  us,  instead 
of  a  being  made  really  just  and  holy  by  living  faith  in 
him,  and  in  all  that  he  has  done  and  is  doing  for  us, 
and  obedience  to  him  as  the  true  light  within  the  soul — 
a  substitution  of  the  activity  of  self  in  the  unregenerate 
mind,  instead  of  a  true  and  humble  waiting  of  the  soul 
on  God  alone  for  all  its  fresh  springs,  for  all  its  ability 
to  do  anything  to  His  honor  or  its  own  salvation — a 
practical  discarding  of  the  doctrine  of  perfection,  or  the 
possibility  and  necessity  of  freedom  from  sin — a  cherish- 
ing of  the  idea  that  prayer  and  praise  are  at  the  com- 
mand of  the  creaturely  powers  of  man.  And  in  the 
second  place,  these  changes  in  doctrine  have  been  fol- 
lowed by  their  genuine  fruits,  in  a  practical  abandon- 
ment, by  the  body,  of  the  testimony  against  tithes — an 
absolute  discarding,  by  the  Meeting  for  Sufferings,  of 
Barclay's  "  Apology"  as  an  exponent  of  our. principles — 
a  suppression  of  almost  all  the  ancient  Queries,  leaving 
only  two  mutilated  ones  to  be  answered  once  a  year 
only,  with  many  other  changes  in  the  Discipline — an 
allowance  for,  and  a  frequent  practice  of,  the  reading  of 
the  Bible  in  meetings  for  divine  worship,  and  even 
singing  of  hymns  therein*  —  meetings  appointed  for 

*  A  series  of  "Special  Meetings,"  authorized  by  the  Bedford  Friends'  Insti- 
tute, were  held  in  several  of  the  Friends'  meeting-houses,  etc.,  in  London,  from 
the  2Cth  of  the  ninth  month  to  the  3d  of  tenth  month,  1875,  including  a  "  Devo- 
tional Meeting  of  Workers"  (so  styled  in  the  call  for  the  meetings),  held  at  the 


424 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN     [CHAP.  XVIII. 


prayer,  and  prearrangement  for  the  proceedings  therein 
— music  practised  and  taught  in  families  and  schools, 
and  even  proposed  in  meetings  for  worship — an  anom- 
alous Missionary  Association,  as  a  wheel  within  a  wheel, 
but  incompatible  with  the  Society's  uniform  principle 
and  practice  hitherto  in  regard  to  the  ministry — the 
indiscriminate  wholesale  admission  of  members  very 
questionably  convinced  of  our  religious  faith — the  lapse 
of  meetings  for  discipline  into  mere  debating  assemblies, 
including  even  the  Yearly  Meeting  itself — the  allowance 
of  marriages  in  meetings  between  members  and  non- 
members,  and  even  when  neither  party  is  in  member- 
ship*— the  very  general  discarding  of  plainness  in  dress, 

Institute,  and  a  "daily  meeting  for  prayer,  and  to  make  arrangements  for  the 
evening  meetings."  ■'  Ministers  who  contemplated  attending  the  evening  meet- 
ings" were  informed  that  it  was  "essential  for  them  to  be  acquainted  with  the 
arrangements  made  from  day  to  day."  At  these  "special  meetings,"  Moody  and 
Sankey's  hymns  were  sung,  and  on  one  occasion  an  overseer  of  one  of  the 
meetings  in  London  gave  out  one  of  them  to  he  sung  in  the  congregation.  In 
the  evening  of  Second-day  of  the  following  week,  a  "  Meeting  for  religious  and  so- 
cial fellowship"  was  held  at  Devonshire  House  meeting-house  (where  the  Yearly 
Meeting  is  held)  by  appointment  of  Jonathan  Grubb  (a  son  of  the  late  Sarah  L. 
Grubh !)  In  the  Circular  calling  the  meeting,  "  all  were  invited,"  members  or  not, 
but  especially  the  younger  members  of  the  Quarterly  Meeting,  and  they  were  in- 
formed that  the  "  special  object "  was  "  mutual  Christian  encouragement  and  com- 
munion in  the  spirit  of  the  words — '  Then  they  that  feared  the  Lord  spake  often 
one  to  the  other.' "  Similar  meetings  were,  during  the  autumn,  held  in  different 
places  in  England,  including  one  at  Bolton,  in  the  "Friends'  meeting-house," 
which  was  originated  by  five  members  of  a  committee  of  Lancashire  and  Cheshire 
Quarterly  Meeting;  on  which  occasion  "ministers  and  Christians  of  all  denom- 
inations" were,  in  the  printed  handbills,  "  invited  to  join  iti  the  work."  In  the 
"  Friends'  meeting-house  "  at  Leeds  five  such  meetings  were  held,  the  handbills 
announcing,  in  large  type,  "Gospel  Meetings — Society  of  Friends — a  Series 
of  Meetings  ....  Several  Ministers  expected  ....  to  be  held  .... 

Sunday,  Nov.  14th,  etc  a  Bible  Reading  (for  united  study  of  Holy 

Scriptures,  and  for  Prayer)  ....  on  Monday,  Tuesday,  and  Wednesday,"  etc. 

*  The  number  of  marriages  in  1874,  in  which  one  or  both  were  non-members, 
was  reported  to  the  Yearly  Meeting  in  1875,  as  more  than  one-third  of  the  whole, 
viz.,  17  out  of  47  or  48. 


1876.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


425 


language,  and  deportment,  and  of  simplicity  in  houses 
and  furniture,  so  conspicuous  a  testimony  of  our  fore- 
fathers against  the  follies  and  extravagance  of  the 
worldly  spirit — the  erection  of  monuments  or  grave- 
stones in  burial-grounds — the  allowance  of  all  sorts  of 
attacks  on  our  ancient  principles  to  be  published  by 
members  with  impunity  —  meetings  for  studying  the 
Bible  by  means  of  human  learning  and  self-reliance, 
these  meetings  being  adopted  by  the  Yearly  Meeting, 
and  inserted  on  its  List  of  Meetings — the  substitution 
of  such  meetings  in  many  places  for  the  meetings  for 
divine  worship — a  prevalent  disposition  to  undervalue 
the  important  doctrinal  stand  taken  by  the  Society,  and 
to  place  it  on  a  level  with  the  platforms  of  other  denom- 
inations, under  a  fallacious  plea  for  charity  and  no  judg- 
ing, and  that  controversy  must  be  shunned  by  all  means 
— a  cowardly  evasiveness  and  equivocal  roundabout 
way  of  speaking,  even  in  the  issues  of  the  Yearly  Meet- 
ing itself,  and  its  committees,  when  called  by  necessitv 
to  speak  of  our  distinctive  principles — and  many  other 
departures,  too  numerous  and  too  rapidly  accumulating 
to  be  specified  here — which  plainly  evince  to  the  candid 
mind,  that  the  change  is  a  fundamental  one,  and  that 
London  Yearly  Meeting,  which  once  stood  so  faithful  to 
the  ancient  standard  of  Truth,  is  no  longer  a  true  repre- 
sentation of  Quakerism,  but  that  its  present  pretence  of 
being  still  a  Yearly  Meeting  of  the  religious  Society  of 
Friends,  is  a  palpable  deception  and  imposition  on  those 
ignorant  of  the  state  of  the  case.  These  facts  are  well 
known  to  the  members  of  the  Yearly  Meeting  of  Phila- 
delphia; yet  that  meeting  could  not,  in  1875,  attempt 
to  condemn  London  Yearly  Meeting,  but  was  willing  to 


426 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN     [CHAP.  XVIII. 


appear  to  the  world  as  if  in  unity  with  it  !  Was  this 
from  a  desire  to  secure  the  money  so  conditionally  be- 
queathed, or  was  it  from  fear  of  offending  the  open  ad- 
vocates of  J.  J.  Gurney  ?  If  the  former,  how  humiliating 
its  position  !  Or  if  the  latter,  does  it  not  show  the  hope- 
less subserviency  of  that  Yearly  Meeting  to  the  revo- 
lutionary majority  in  the  Society?  Should  any  attempt 
be  made  on  the  part  of  the  advanced  Gurneyites,  as  has 
lately  been  somewhat  ostentatiously  threatened,*  to  gain 
possession  of  the  property  of  Philadelphia  Yearly  Meet- 
ing by  legal  proceedings,  there  will  then  be  no  safety  in 
the  halfway  course,  pursued  by  the  middle  party  in 
Ohio,  by  which  they  lost  their  suit;f  but  the  almost 
inevitable  result  will  be  a  loss  of  some  at  least  of  their 
valuable  property,  and  consequently  of  their  standing 
or  prestige  before  the  community  at  large,  unless  an  open 
and  unmistakable  stand  is  taken  on  the  primitive  prin- 
ciples of  the  Society,  with  as  open  and  candid  a  dec- 
laration that  London  Yearly  Meeting  has  departed 
from  those  principles,  and  is  no  longer  the  "  London 
Yearly  Meeting  of  Friends,"  but  a  schismatic  body, 
palming  itself  falsely  on  the  world  as  the  true  Society. 
Rome  is  no  longer  the  Christian  church,  profess  it  as 
highly  as  she  may.  And  is  not  the  apostasy  as  obvious 
in  the  one  case  as  in  the  other? 

Within  London  Yearly  Meeting,  and  by  some  of  its 
prominent  members,  attacks,  as  we  have  already  seen, 
have  for  years  been  continually  made  on  Barclay's 
"  Apology ; "  and  it  is  now  openly  repudiated  by  the 
Society  there,  and  given  up  to  the  reproach  of  being  no 

*  "  The  Friend,"  Philadelphia,  tenth  month,  lGth  and  30th,  1875. 
t  See  pages  263  to  280  of  this  volume. 


1876.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


427 


longer  acceptable  as  an  exponent  of  the  doctrines  of 
Friends.  The  doctrinal  writings  of  others  of  our  an- 
cient worthies  are  equally  obnoxious ;  but  this  being  the 
one  most  prominently  acknowledged  for  the  last  two 
hundred  years,  is  the  chief  object  of  attack.  If  that  falls, 
the  doctrines  of  which  it  is  an  exponent  and  advocate 
are  got  out  of  the  way.  How  is  it  possible  for  any  can- 
did person  to  avow  the  belief  that  those  engaged  in  such  a 
course,  or  those  quietly  conniving  at  it  by  continuing  in 
religious  connection  with  them,  can  have  a  valid  claim 
to  be  considered  the  true  Society  of  Friends  ? 

This  becomes  still  more  obviously  inconsistent,  when 
we  consider  their  action  toward  the  "  Smaller  Bodies" — 
those  who  "  are  everywhere  spoken  against,"  by  the 
members  of  the  class  just  mentioned,  and  especially  by 
those  of  the  "  middle"  party.  It  was  proved  in  the 
plainest  manner  that  what  these  "Smaller  Bodies"  were 
contending  for,  was  the  continued  maintenance  of  our 
ancient  faith  and  principles,  which  they  believed  were 
being  laid  aside,  and  a  plausible  substitute  established 
in  their  stead.  Yet  the  Gurney  party  never  would 
meet  them  on  this  ground ;  but  always  contrived  side 
issues  or  evasions,  and  charged  the  ''Smaller  Bodies" 
with  disregard  of  the  Discipline,  when  they  stood  firmly 
aloof  from  them,  as  a  last  resort  for  safety  against  their 
schismatic  and  palpably  irregular  and  revolutionary 
measures. 

The  position  of  these  "Smaller  Bodies"  was  by  no 
means  one  of  factious  opposition,  nor  of  a  desire  or  choice 
to  stand  aloof.  They  were,  after  a  long  course  of  testi- 
fying against  the  innovations,  with  clear  and  unanswered 
proof  of  the  facts,  but  without  success  in  stemming  the 


428 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN      [CHAP.  XVIII. 


current,  compelled  to  take  the  isolated  stand  which  they 
now  occupy,  by  a  conscientious  conviction,  and  in  sub- 
mission to  the  manifestations  of  the  light  of  truth  to 
their  minds,  that  their  spiritual  safety  depended  on 
clearing  themselves  from  the  influence  of  and  connection 
with  that  insidious  spirit,  which  was  bringing  revolution 
over  the  nominal  Society,  and  threatening  the  total  de- 
vastation of  our  ancient  testimonies. 

In  taking  this  course,  they  knew  that  they  were  giv- 
ing up  many  outward  advantages  appertaining  to  asso- 
ciation with  large  and  established  bodies,  possessing  fine 
meeting-houses,  school-houses,  and  funds,  and  abun- 
dance of  other  property,  as  well  as  the  general  good 
esteem  of  the  community  at  large,  many  of  whom  were 
not  qualified  to  judge,  nor  much  disposed  to  care, 
whether  the  original  principles  of  Friends  were  aban- 
doned or  not.  Yet  what  was  all  this,  to  put  in  com- 
parison with  the  consciousness  of  a  faithful  endeavor  to 
maintain  the  purity  of  the  principles  of  our  forefathers 
in  the  ever-blessed  truth,  and  a  belief  of  the  approval  of 
the  Most  High,  testifying  to  their  spirits  that  their 
course  herein  was  right  in  His  holy  sight? 

It  is  true  that  they  found  themselves  deserted  in  the 
hour  of  trial  by  many  who  had  professed  to  hold  the 
same  views,  and  even  by  some  who  had  been  rightly 
"armed  and  carried  bows"  for  this  warfare,  but  who, 
as  we  have  seen,  "  turned  back  in  the  day  of  battle," 
and  "cast  away  the  shield"  of  faith;  and  that  conse- 
quently they  were  reduced  to  a  very  small  number,  com- 
pared with  those  who  took  the  popular  track.  Yet  even 
so  was  it  with  the  primitive  church,  soon  after  our 
Lord's  ascension;  when  we  are  told  that  "the  number 


1876.]  THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


429 


of  the  names  together  was  about  one  hundred  and 
twenty."  Numbers,  we  know,  furnish  no  criterion  of 
truth  or  righteousness.  Else  would  the  worldly  spirit 
be  the  standard  of  truth,  the  world  over.  But  the  great 
Head  of  the  church  can  work  by  few  or  by  many ;  and 
he  "  hath  chosen  the  weak  things  of  the  world  to  con- 
found the  things  that  are  mighty  ;  and  base  things  of 
the  world,  and  things  which  are  despised,  hath  God 
chosen,  yea  and  things  which  are  not,  to  bring  to  naught 
things  that  are  ;  that  no  flesh  should  glory  in  his  pres- 
ence." 

It  is  necessary  to  remember  that  the  separations  which 
resulted  in  the  isolation  of  the  Smaller  Bodies,  began  in 
New  England  with  the  outrageous  attempts  of  the  fol- 
lowers of  J.  J.  Gurney  to  sustain  his  cause,  and  to  put 
down  all  opposition  to  the  spread  of  his  influence  and 
views.  The  resulting  isolation  of  the  Smaller  Body 
there,  brought  an  additional  responsibility  upon  faithful 
Friends  elsewhere  (especially  in  Ohio  and  Pennsylvania, 
where  it  might  almost  be  said  that  they  had  been  prom- 
ised effective  aid  and  encouragement),  inasmuch  as,  be- 
sides the  necessity  pressing  upon  these  to  sustain  their 
own  standing  in  the  pure  truth  and  against  the  new 
ways,  they  now  felt  that  it  was  also  their  incumbent 
duty  to  own,  and  aid,  and  unite  with  their  brethren 
who  had  already  taken  the  stand,  and  whose  names 
were  "cast  out  as  evil,  for  the  Son  of  man's  sake." 
This  circumstance  likewise  took  away  the  validity  of 
the  excuse  so  gladly  seized  by  some  of  those  caught  in 
the  net  of  the  middle  system,  that  "no  way  opened  to 
take  any  course;"  for  thus  a  way  had  opened,  by  the 
sustaining  of  a  Yearly  Meeting  in  New  England  on  the 


430  THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN      [CHAP.  XVIII. 


ancient  ground ;  and  it  was  their  duty  to  rally  to  this 
standard  for  the  truth,  and  encourage  those  who,  in  much 
weakness,  were  endeavoring  to  uphold  it,  by  evincing 
their  brotherhood  with  them  therein,  instead  of  standing 
coldly  aloof  from  them  "  in  the  day  of  their  distress."* 
But  choosing,  as  many  did  in  that  dark  day,  to  stand  aloof 
from  them  and  from  all  those  who  took  the  same  position, 
and  to  "  pass  them  by  on  the  other  side,"  such  became 
merged  in  the  great  and  overwhelming  flood  of  the  adher- 
ents of  innovation,  and  are  now  without  power  to  effec- 
tually withstand  it.  "  Inasmuch  as  ye  did  it  not  to  one 
of  the  least  of  these  my  brethren,  ye  did  it  not  to  me." 

Far  be  it  from  the  writer  to  undertake  to  eulogize  the 
"  Smaller  Bodies,"  or  to  arrogate  for  the  members 
thereof  any  extraordinary  experience  in  the  way  and 
work  of  the  Lord,  or  any,  the  least  ability  of  themselves, 
without  his  assistance,  to  take  one  step  in  his  service,  or 
in  the  working  out  of  their  souls'  salvation.  But  they 
are  entitled  to  their  due,  and  to  be  judged  without  pre- 
judice by  their  genuine  fruits,  fairly  and  not  captiously 
taken,  and  not  by  the  fruits  of  dead  branches  which 
have  fallen  off*  from  them.  They  have  never  yet  been 
even  accused  of  a  departure  from  the  original  principles 
of  the  Society;  while  both  the  others,  the  Hicksites  and 
the  Grurneyites,  have  had  it  plainly  proved  upon  them. 
Their  very  position,  as  may  be  seen  by  a  perusal  of  the 
foregoing  chapters,  is  owing  to  their  maintenance  of  these 
original  principles  against  determined  defection  and 
change,  or  against  a  pusillanimous  connivance  at  such 
defection.    As  a  body,  they  have  not  assumed  a  profes- 


*  Obad.,  11  aud  12. 


1876.]  THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY.  431 


sion  of  lofty  attainments,  or  any  disposition  to  say,  I  am 
holier  than  thou  ;  but  rather,  I  am  bound  to  the  ancient 
landmarks,  which  ye  are  tearing  away.  Neither  can  they 
be  fairly  charged  with  a  spirit  of  vituperation  ;  for  though, 
during  the  period  of  the  controversy,  they  earnestly  and 
firmly  contended  for  the  faith  once  delivered  to  the 
saints,  and  sustained  their  own  ground  iu  proving  the 
fallacy  of  the  positions  of  their  opponents  ;  yet  since  that 
has  passed  over,  and  they  are  apart,  they  have  chiefly 
evinced  a  desire  to  "  mind  their  own  business,"  in  an  ear- 
nest endeavor  to  walk  worthy  of  the  vocation  wherewith 
they  are  called.  The  property  question,  or  any  claim 
for  the  meeting-houses,  school-houses,  etc.,  they  have 
entirely  let  go ;  preferring  to  have  to  start  as  it  were 
afresh,  as  to  outward  circumstances,  rather  than  enter 
into  contention  with  their  former  brethren  for  the  things 
of  this  world. 

As  to  their  fruits,  it  is  not  for  them  to  speak  ;  neither 
is  it  for  those  to  judge,  whose  principle  is  the  activity  of 
self  in  an  unregenerate  mind,  which  can  always  be  doing 
something  for  self  to  feed  upon.  But  this  they  leave  to 
the  Lord.  It  may  be  safely  said  that  a  living  ministry 
has  been  raised  up  and  sustained  among  them,  to  the 
refreshment  of  the  heritage,  and  the  convincement  of 
serious  inquirers  after  truth  ;  and  that  a  concern  is  main- 
tained for  the  right  administration  of  the  Discipline. 
Should  any  good  result  come  of  their  position,  in  the 
gathering  once  more  of  a  people  to  the  Lord's  praise  and 
glory,  as,  we  confidently  believe,  will  come  in  his  own 
time  unless  this  remnant  also  should  prove  unfaithful  to 
its  holy  calling,  it  is  felt  among  them  that  such  good 
result  will  be  all  of  and  from  Him,  and  to  his  honor 


432 


THE  SOCIETY  OP  FRIENDS  IN     [CHAP.  XVIII. 


alone.  But  it  is  not  for  the  servant  to  ask  what  will  be 
the  result.  It  is  his  duty  to  do  whatever  is  clearly 
called  for  by  the  Master,  leaving  the  results  to  Him  who 
alone  can  foresee  them  or  control  them. 

Much  reproach  has  been  openly  and  persistently  cast 
upon  the  Smaller  Bodies,  on  account  of  the  "divisions 
and  subdivisions"  which  have  unhappily  occurred  among 
them,  the  origin  and  nature  of  which  have  been  some- 
what sketched  in  this  volume;  and  some  advantage  has 
been  taken  against  them  on  account  of  sundry  individ- 
uals who  were  at  first  among  them,  now  walking  with 
them  no  more.  It  is  hoped,  however,  that  in  the  first 
class  of  cases  the  candid  reader  may  have  perceived  that 
the  stand  taken  by  the  Smaller  Bodies  was  not  ac- 
countable for  these  divisions,  though  their  weakness  in 
some  degree  may  have  been  so ;  but  that  they  were 
mainly  brought  about  by  the  half-way  system,  which 
was  so  busy  with  its  insidious  work  of  picking  off  their 
weak  or  unwary  members,  and  thus  thinning  their 
ranks. 

As  to  the  individual  cases  of  desertion  of  the  cause, 
they  were  only  what  might  have  been  looked  for,  in  a 
consideration  that  the  weakness  of  human  nature  would 
doubtless  be  eagerly  seized,  and  gladly  and  artfully  made 
use  of  by  the  adversary  of  Truth  in  a  stormy  day,  in 
his  disintegrating  attempts  against  a  small  company 
everywhere  spoken  against,  and  composed  of  individ- 
uals in  various  stages  of  religious  experience,  some  of 
whom  were  particularly  open  to  his  insinuations  "as  an 
angel  of  light."  And  it  is  some  evidence  of  life  in  these 
Small  Bodies,  that  they  were  able  to  stand  firmly  not- 
withstanding the  defection  of  certain  of  their  brethren, 


1876.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


433 


instead  of  allowing  the  standard  to  be  shaken  or  ob- 
scured by  illusory  attempts  to  retain  them  in  a  false 
position. 

The  Smaller  Bodies  generally  have  from  the  first  been 
fully  sensible  of  their  apparently  insignificant  numbers, 
and  their  weakness  and  inexperience  in  the  work  of  the 
Lord ;  and  have  by  no  means  desired  to  set  themselves 
up  as  examples  for  others  to  follow,  any  further  than  as 
they  might  be  plainly  seen,  by  those  walking  in  the  light 
of  Truth,  to  be  following  in  the  footsteps  of  the  flock  of 
Christ's  companions.  Their  concern,  as  already  inti- 
mated, has  been  to  clear  themselves  and  their  families 
from  entanglement  in  palpable  error,  to  "seek  a  right 
way  for  themselves  and  their  little  ones,"  to  be  found 
walking  in  the  good  old  paths  of  their  forefathers — who- 
ever else  might  depart  from  them,  or  connive  at  such 
departure ;  and  they  have  had  comfort,  and  now  have 
peace,  in  this  endeavor,  though  by  no  means  upholding 
their  own  course  as  faultless,  or  desiring  to  deny  that 
they  are  in  themselves  a  poor,  and  weak,  and  afflicted 
people,  sustained  alone  by  the  helping  hand  of  Him  who, 
as  they  confidently  believe,  has  led  them  hitherto,  and 
who  seeth  not  as  man  seeth. 

These  "Smaller  Bodies"  thus  spoken  of,  are  at  pre- 
sent (1876)  composed  of  the  remnants  of  the  Society  de- 
scribed in  the  previous  pages,  as  the  Annual  Meeting  of 
Friends  for  New  England — the  Yearly  Meeting  of  New 
York,  held  at  Poplar  Ridge — the  General  Meeting  for 
Pennsylvania,  New  Jersey,  etc.,  including  now  a  Monthly 
Meeting  in  Maryland,  and  one  in  Ohio,  and  a  small 
meeting  of  Friends  in  Iowa — and  the  General  Meeting 
of  Friends  for  England,  now  held  at  Fritchlcy  in 
vol.  ii. — 37 


434  THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  IN     [CHAP.  XVIII. 


Derbyshire.  These  small  companies  of  Friends  are  in 
union  and  fellowship  with  each  other,  and  are  avowedly 
and  undeniably  endeavoring  to  maintain  the  ancient  faith 
and  discipline  of  the  Society,  without  compromise  with 
modernization ;  and  though  very  few,  compared  with 
their  former  brethren,  and  at  times  under  a  feeling  of 
great  weakness,  they  are  often  sweetly  sustained  by  a 
sense  of  the  owning,  and  helj),  and  care  of  the  Great 
Shepherd.  In  this  renewed  sense  of  his  mercy,  they  can 
set  up  tlieir  Ebenezer,  knowing  his  faithfulness;  and  de- 
sire not  to  be  too  anxious  in  regard  to  results,  or  for  an 
increase  of  mere  numbers,  without  conviction  of  princi- 
ple and  duty.  Though  often  thus  feeling  the  greatness 
of  the  cause,  and  their  own  unfitness  and  inability  of 
themselves  to  sustain  it,  nevertheless  they  remain  bound 
to  the  testimonies  of  Truth  as  held  by  our  forefathers, 
and  fully  convinced  of  the  rectitude  of  the  stand  taken 
in  the  fear  of  the  Lord,  and  of  its  necessity  as  a  means 
of  preservation  from  the  ensnaring  downward  tendency 
and  lapse  of  the  great  body  of  professors  of  the  name  of 
Friends,  from  their  original  and  characteristic  principles. 

There  are  many  here  and  there  among  the  various 
professors  of  the  name  of  Friends,  who  lament  and 
mourn  over  the  departures  from  primitive  simplicity 
and  purity ;  but  who  have  not  hitherto  made  use  of  the 
little  strength  that  might  be  afforded  them,  to  come 
forth  in  a  clear,  and  practical,  and  unmistakable  testi- 
mony for  the  ancient  and  unchangeable  truth,  against 
this  fearful  and  fundamental  departure.  The  great 
body  of  what  is  popularly  called  the  Society  is  in  a  re- 
markable state  of  unsettlement;  novelties,  one  after  an- 
other in  rapid  succession,  are  being  pressed  upon  it;  and 


1876.] 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 


435 


it  is  impossible  to  foresee  what  may  be  the  result  of  the 
next  ten  years' agitation.  But' "  a  city  divided  against 
itself  cannot  stand"  against  the  continued  assaults  of  the 
enemy.  The  atmosphere  is  gathering  dark  and  windy 
storm-clouds  over  the  heads  of  those  who  have  been 
abiding  in  the  unstable  tents  of  a  temporizing  policy. 
It  may  be,  that  a  future  writer  may  be  enabled  to  add  a 
third  volume  of  momentous  changes,  to  this  History. 
For,  we  may  rely  upon  it,  the  Lord  will  yet  have  a 
people  to  hold  up  the  standard  of  his  pure  truth  before 
the  nations;  and  he  is  looking  for  holy  and  faithful 
deeds  and  life,  rather  than  empty  words. 

How  greatly  is  it  to  be  desired,  that  before  it  be  too 
late  for  their  own  safety,  all  the  honest-hearted  ones 
might  be  enabled  to  see  eye  to  eye,  and,  taking  up  the 
resolution  of  that  valiant  servant  of  Jehovah,  formerly, 
who  "was  full  of  the  Spirit  of  Wisdom" — "as  for  me 
and  my  house,  we  will  serve  the  Lord" — might  be 
faithful  to  that  attractive  power  which  would  draw  into 
oneness  all  the  lowly  followers  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  and 
would  again  grant  them  the  unspeakable  benefits  of 
unity  and  communion  one  with  another  in  a  visible 
gathered  church  of  one  heart  and  one  mind,  making  of 
a  scattered  remnant  "  a  strong  nation,"  even  "  an  army 
with  banners"  for  the  Lord's  blessed  cause.  These, 
abiding  in  faithful  obedience  to  the  Light  of  Christ, 
would  not  only  more  and  more  feel  the  inestimable  value 
of  the  pure  principles  of  the  gospel,  but  would  likewise 
be  enabled  livingly  to  witness  to  the  truth  of  John 
Fothergill's  words,  in  an  epistle  written  in  1705  :  "It 
"is  the  Life  of  Truth  which  quickens  the  soul  to  God; 
"  if  ever  we  become  of  His  people  indeed,  it  is  by  re- 


436  FRIENDS  IN  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 

"  tabling  a  thirst  after  the  renewed  springings  up  thereof 
"  in  the  soul ;  and  this  alone  can  keep  us  to  be  of  His 
"  people ;  and  whoever  loseth  this  true  thirst  after  Life — 
"  humbling,  bowing  Life — they  lose  their  access  to  God, 
"  and  that  wherein  alone  is  acceptance  with  the  Father." 
For  the  apostle  Paul  told  the  Colossians,  that  Christ  is 
"  our  Life,"  and  his  appearance  among  the  saints  their 
glory. 


THE  END. 


INDEX. 


A. 

Address  of  joint  committee  of  Yearly 
Meetings,  1849,  ii,  163 

Almy,  William,  attempts  to  introduce 
"  the  Beacon,"  i,  285 

Antislayery  Conference,  previous  to 
separation,  ii,  27 

Antislavery  separation  effected  in  In- 
diana, ii,"  30 

Antislavery  friends  visited  by  London 
delegation,  ii,  34 

Antislavery  Yearly  Meeting,  its  con- 
tinuance and  transactions,  ii,  45 

Antislavery  Yearly  Meeting,  its  close, 
ii,  47 

Appeal  of  Leonard  Snowden  against 

the  Hicksites,  i,  144 
Appeal  to  Philadelphia  Yearly  Meeting 

against  schismatic  amalgamation,  ii, 

292 

Appeals  on  faith  and  doctrine,  in  Lon- 
don Yearly  Meeting,  i,  52 

Ash,  Dr.  Edward,  publishes  unsound 
books  with  impunity,  i,  322 

Ash,  Dr.  Edward,  resigns  membership 
from  opposition  to  Barclay,  ii,  399 

Ash,  Dr.  Edward,  received  again  with- 
out acknowledgment  of  error,  ii,  400 

Ash,  Dr.  Edward,  afterwards  attacks  G. 
Fox  in  a  pamphlet,  ii,  401 

Ash,  Dr.  Ed  ward,  Testimony  approving 
him  adopted  by  London  Yearly  Meet- 
ing, ii,  403 


B. 

Baltimore  Yearly  Meeting,  Hicksian 
separation,  i,  186 

Baltimore  Yearly  Meeting,  separation 
of  1854,  ii.  206 

Barclay,  Robert,  on  schisms,  and  au- 
thority of  the  church,  ii,  187 

Barclav,  Robert,  his  "Apology"  assailed, 
ii,  366,  403 

Barclay,  Robert,  his  "  Apology,"  Irwin's 
edition  of  10,000  copies,  ii,  390 

Barclay,  Lydia  Ann,  her  decease,  ii,  375 

Harnard,  Hannah,  her  defection,  i,  39 

Barnard,  Hannah,  her  appeal  to  Loudon, 
i,  45 

VOL.  II.— 38 


Barnard,  Hannah,  her  disownment  and 

death,  i,  49 
Bates,  Elisha,  joins  the  Beaconites,  i, 

246 

Bates,  Elisha,  submits  to  water-baptism, 
i,  255 

Bates,  Elisha,  joins  the  Methodists,  i, 
287 

Beacon  schism,  origin  and  progress  of, 
i,  227 

Beacon  published  by  Isaac  Crewdson,  i, 
247 

Beacon,  its  doctrines  similar  to  J.  J. 
Gurney's,  i,  248 

Beacon,  committee  appointed  in  Lon- 
don Yearly  Meeting  on  it,  i,  262 

Beacon  committee,  successive  proceed- 
ings, i,  263 

Beaconites,  their  separation  consum- 
mated, i,  2S3 

Bible  declared  by  London  Yearly  Meet- 
ing "the  only  divinely  authorized 
record,"  etc.,  i,  305 

Birthright  membership,  ii,  378 


C. 


Cadwallader,  Benjamin,  his  Letter  to 
Friends,  1855,  ii,  217 

"Calumny  Refuted,"  published  in  de- 
fence of  J.  J.  Gurney,  ii,  360 

"Calumny  Refuted,"  answered  by  "  Is 
it  ( 'aluniny,  or  is  it  Truth  "  ii,  300 

Certificates  to  and  from  separate  meet- 
ings, ii,  290 

Clay,  Henry,  attends  Friends'  meeting 
at  Richmond,  etc  ,  ii,  25 

Coinly,  John,  some  of  his  doctrinal 
views,  i.  161 

Committee  of  Meeting  for  Sufferings  to 
prepare  "Appeal  for  Ancient  Doc- 
trines," ii.  130 

Committee  of  Meeting  for  Sufferings  on 
the  New  England  separation,  ii,  135 

Committee  of  Meeting  IbrSufferings  on 
the  New  England  separation,  their 
conclusions,  ii,  141 

Compromise  party,  rise  of  it,  ii,  217 

Compromise  party  gains  control  of  Ohio 
Yearly  Meeting,  ii,  326 


438 


INDEX. 


Conference,  first,  of  Friends  apart  from 
Philadelphia  Yearly  Meeting,  ii,  299 

Conference  meetings  commenced  in 
England,  ii,  380 

"Considerations,  etc.,"  published  by  C. 
Evans,  ii,  121 

Contrast  of  Gurney's  doctrines  with 
those  of  Friends,  i,  341 

Cope,  Samuel,  his  address  in  Philadel- 
phia Yearly  Meeting,  1830,  ii,  159 

Cope,  Morris,  publishes  "Authentic 
Extracts,"  ii,  245 


D. 

Declaration  on  Doctrines, by  New  Eng- 
land Gurney  party,  ii,  91 

Declaration  on  Doctrines,  by  J.  J.  Gur- 
ney, ii,  9(5 

Declension  in  England,  in  doctrine  and 

practice,  ii,  363 
Decline  of  zeal  and  faith  gradual,  i,  17 
Decline  of  zeal  against  slavery,  ii,  12 
Discipline  of  Philadelphia  Yearly  Meet- 
ing respecting  separate  meetings,  ii, 
286 

Discipline  of  Philadelphia  Yearly  Meet- 
ing respecting  ministers'  certificates, 
ii,  284 

Discipline  grtatly  changed  by  London 

Yearly  Meeting,  ii,  375 
Drewry,  Thomas,  his  Protest  against 

London  Yearly  Meeting,  ii,  394 


E. 

Evans,  Jonathan,  Letter  from  him  to 

Moses  Brown,  i,  63 
Evans   Charles,  his  "Considerations, 

etc.,"  of  1846,  ii,  121 
Evans,  Charles,  his  testimony  in  the 

Ohio  suit,  ii,  2GS 
"Examination  of  Writings  of  ,T.  J. 

Gurney  "  published  in  185G,  ii,  222 
Extracts  from  writings  of  primitive 

Friends,  called  by  the  Hicksites  "the 

Creed,"  i,  137 


F. 

Ferrisburgb  Quarterly  Meeting,  separa- 
tion in,  ii,  178 

Forster,  William,  his  testimony  at  New 
Bedford,  1824,  i,  95 

Forster,  William,  his  visit  to  the  Anti- 
slavery  Friends,  ii,  34 

Foster,  Thomas,  of  Bromley,  his  un- 
soundness, i,  51 

Foster,  Thomas,  appeals,  but  is  finally 
disowned,  i,  55 

"Friend,"  the  periodical  paper  called 
ths  established,  in  Philadelphia  i 
170 


"  Friend,  the,"  a  remonstrance  against 

its  half-way  course,  ii,  241 
Fritcblev,  etc.,  Monthly  Meetings  held 

at,  ii,  388 

Fritcblev,  General  Meeting  established 
at,  ii,  392 


G. 


Gauntley,  William, his  Address  to  Lon- 
don Meeting  for  Sufferings,  ii,351 
General  Meeting  held  at  Fallsiugton,  ii, 

305 

General  Meeting  held  at  Fallsiugton 
receives  Salem  Monthly  Meeting,  ii, 
344 

General  Meeting  held  in  Ohio,  ii,  331 

General  Meeting  established  in  Eng- 
land, ii,  392. 

Gilkes,  Louisa  E.,  visits  America,  with 
J.  G.  S.,  and  M.  It.,  ii,  384 

Gould,  Thomas  B.,  his  interview  with 
J.  J.  Gurney,  i,  336 

Gould,  Thomas  B.,  irregularly  dealt 
with  and  disowned  by  separatists,  ii, 
70 

Green,  Jacob,  his  interview  with  J.  J. 
Gurney,  i,  345 

Grubb,  Sarah  L.,  her  warning  against 
Beaconism  in  1832.  i,  234 

Grubb,  Sarah  L  ,  her  testimony  in  Lon- 
don Yearly  Meeting,  1836,  i,  293 

Gurney,  Joseph  John,  begins  to  publish 
religious  books,  i,  232 

Gurney,  Joseph  John,  attacks  "Truth 
Vindicated,"  i,  254 

Gurney,  Joseph  John,  his  speech  in 
London  Yearly  Meeting,  1836,  i,  300 

Gurney,  Joseph  John,  declares  himself 
"  a  middle  man,"  i,  303 

Gurney,  Joseph  John,  prints  his  "  Brief 
Remarks,  etc.,"  i,  314 

Gurney,  Joseph  John,  synopsis  of  his 
main  unsound  views,  i,  320 

Gurney,  Joseph  John,  proposes  to  visit 
America,  i,  325 

Gurney,  Joseph  John,  arrives  in  Ameri- 
ca, i,  330 

Gurney,  Joseph  John,  the  objection  to 
"going  behind  his  certificate,"  i,  331 

Gurnev,  Joseph  John,  bis  conversation 
with'T.  B.  Gould,  i,  335 

Gurney,  Joseph  John,  replies  to  J.  Wil- 
burs Narrative  ani  Exposition  ii 
359 

Gurney,  Joseph  John,  sends  forth  a 

Declaration  of  bis  belief,  ii,  97 
Gurney,  Joseph  John,  his  decease,  and 

the  Testimony  respecting  him,  ii,  361 
Gurneyan  Yearly  Meeting  of  Indiana, 

in  1875,  ii,  368 
Gurneyan    and   Hicksian  defections 

equally  fundamental,  ii,  407 
Gurneyites,  why  they  cannot  be  the 

true  Society  of  Friends,  i i ,  418 


IXDP.X. 


439 


H. 

Half-way  system  shows  itself  in  Eng- 
lish Conferences,  ii,  386 

Half-way  system  eventually  causes 
their  cessation,  ii,  390 

Harrison,  John,  publishes  "A  Lamp  for 
the  Beacon,"  i,  253 

Havilaiut,  Daniel,  his  prediction  of  fur- 
ther t  rials,  i,  175 

Healy,  Christopher,  his  interview  with 
B.  Seebohm,  ii,  114 

Healy,  Christopher,  his  conversation 
with  Richard  Mott,  ii,  132 

Hicks,  Klias,  his  early  career,  i,  100 

Hicks,  Klias,  his  indorsement  of  his 
printed  Sermons,  i,  100 

Hicks,  Elias,  his  doctrines  concerning 
the  Lord  Jesus,  i,  107 

Hicks,  Elias.  his  doctrines  concerning 
the  atonement,  i,  111 

Hicks,  Elias,  his  doctrines  concerning 
the  Scriptures,  i,  113 

Hicks,  Elias.  his  doctrines  concerning 
faith,  i,  116 

Hicks,  Klias,  his  doctrines  concerning 
heaven  and  hell,  i,  116 

Hicks,  Elias,  his  doctrines  concerning 
the  devil,  i,  117 

Hicks,  Klias,  his  doctrines  concerning 
the  fall  of'man,  i,  119 

Hicks,  Klias,  his  doctrines  concerning 
reason,  etc.,  i,  120 

Hicks,  Elias,  Joseph  Hoag's  conversa- 
tion with  him,  i,  124 

Hicks,  Elias,  Joseph  Whitall's  inter- 
view with  bim,  i,  126 

Hicks,  Elias,  William  Jackson's  inter- 
view with  him,  i,  127 

Hicks,  Klias,  treated  with  by  the  Elders 
in  Philadelphia,  i,  132 

Hicks,  Klias,  his  followers  prepare  for 
a  separation,  i,  149 

Hicks,  Klias,  his  followers  secede  from 
Philadelphia  Yearly  Meeting,  i,  152 

Hicks,  Klias,  his  followers,  their  state- 
ment of  grievances,  i,  160 

Hicks,  Elias,  his  followers,  their  sepa- 
rate meeting  in  sixth  month,  1827, 
i,  165 

Hicks,  Elias,  his  followers,  their  "Year- 
ly Meeting"  in  tenth  month,  i,  166 

Hicks,  Elias,  his  followers,  their  sepa- 
ration from  New  York  Yearly  Meet- 
ing, i,  172 

Hicks,  Klias,  his  followers,  their  sepa- 
ration from  Ohio  Yearly  Meeting,  i, 
180 

Hicks,  Klias,  his  followers,  their  sepa- 
ration from  Baltimore  Yearly  Meet- 
ing, i,  lHii 
Hicks,  Klias,  his  disownment,  i,  193 
Hiiks  t  in::  his  answer  to  Six  Queries, 
i,  197 

Hicks,  Klias,  his  decease,  i,  201 
Hicksian  schism,  account  of  commence- 
ment, i,  100 


Hicksian  suits  at  law,  i,  203 

Hicksites,  why  they  cannot  be  the  true 
Society  of  Friends,  ii,  409 

Hippolytus's  history  of  "All  the  Her- 
esies," i,  vii 

Howard,  Luke,  advocates  Beacon  views, 
i,  256 

Hoyle.  Benjamin,  takes  the  lead  of  the 
middle  party  in  Ohio,  ii,  326 

Hoyle,  Benjamin,  his  testimony  in  the 
Ohio  suit,  ii,  266 


I. 

Identity  of  the  Society  of  Friends,  ii, 
408 

Indiana  Yearly  Meeting  displaces  eight 
members  of  Meeting  for  Sufferings, 
ii,  23 

Iowa,  the  separation  there  in  1854,  ii, 
226 

Iowa,  meetings  irregularly  established 

there  by  Ohio  middle  party,  ii,  236 
Ireland,  the  schism  there,  of  1796,  i,  29 


J. 


Jannev,  S.  M.,  his  attempts  to  defend 

Klias  Hicks,  ii,  410 
Jones,  Ann,  her  prayer  and  testimony 

in  Philadelphia  Yearly  Meeting,  1827, 

i,  157 

Jones,  Ann,  her  testimony  in  London 
Yearly  Meeting,  1836,  i,  298 

Jones,  Ann,  her  indorsement  of  her 
husband  s  testimony,  ii,  349 

Jones,  George,  his  testimony  against  J. 
J.  Gurney,  ii,  346 

Justice,  John,  his  prophetical  declara- 
tion, ii,  297 


K. 

"King"  Separation  in  New  York,  its 
origin,  ii,  250 

"King"  Separation  effected  in  Month- 
ly and  Quarterly  Meetings  ii,  259 

"  King"  Separation  effected  in  the 
Yearly  Meeting,  ii,  260 

Koll,  Daniel,  his  visit  to  England  and 
Norway,  ii,  389 


L. 


Lawsuit,  in  regard  to  Fall  River  prop- 
erty, N.  E.,  ii,  99 

Lawsuit  in  regard  to  Mount  Pleasant 
property,  in  Ohio,  ii,  263 

Lawsuits  "following  the  Hicksian  seces- 
sion, i,  203 

London  Yearly  Meeting,  change  in  its 
constitution,  ii,  377 


440 


INDEX. 


London  Yearly  Meeting  indorses  J.  J. 
( iurney.  ii,  361 

Loudon  Yearly  Meeting  indorses  Ed- 
ward Ash,  ii,  403 

London  Yearly  Meeting,  evidences  of 
its  lapse,  ii,  422 


M. 

Maule,  Joseph  E.,  publishes  "  Remarks 
on  acknowledging  meetings  of  sepa- 
ratists," ii,  285 

Middle  Party  in  Ohio  Y'early  Meeting, 
ii,  128 

Middle  Party  has  no  strength  to  with- 
stand the  innovations,  ii,  406 

Monthly  Meetings  of  the  Smaller  Body 
in  Pennsylvania,  etc.,  ii,  309 

Monthly  Meetings  of  the  Smaller  Body 
in  England,  ii,  388 


N. 

New  England,  subdivision  in,  of  1863, 
ii,  313 

New  England,  account  of  the  Yearly 
Meeting  of  1863  (smaller  body),  ii,  318 


0. 

Ohio  Yearly  Meeting,  Hicksian  separa- 
tion from,  i,  180 

Ohio  Yearly  Meeting  of  1854,  and  Gur- 
neyan  separation,  ii,  193 

Ohio  Yearly  Meeting,  controlled  by  the 
middle  party,  ii,  327 

Ohio  General  Meeting  instituted,  ii,  331 

Ohio  General  Meeting,  causes  of  its 
failure,  ii,  333 

Ohio  General  Meeting  addressed  by 
that  for  Pennsylvania,  etc.,  ii,  338 

Ohio  Lawsuit  respecting  Mount  Pleas- 
ant school  property,  ii,  263 

Osborn,  Charles,  his  interview  with  J. 
J.  Gurney,  ii,  13 

Osborn,  Charles,  and  seven  others  dis- 
placed from  Meeting  for  Sufferings, 
ii,  22 

Otis,  Job,  his  position  in  New  England 
and  New  York,  ii,  250 


P. 

Penn,  William,  his  testimony  to  the 

Holy  Scriptures,  ii,  413 
Penn,  William,  said  he  had  "often 

prayed  to  Christ  Jesus,"  ii,  416 
Philadelphia  Yearly  Meeting  of  1846, 

ii,  126 

Philadelphia  Yearly  Meeting  of  1848, 
ii,  131 

Philadelphia  Yearly  Meeting  of  1849, 
ii,  155 


Philadelphia  Yearly  Meeting  of  1830, 
ii,  156 

Philadelphia  Yearly  Meeting  trans- 
gresses its  own  Discipline,  ii,  163,  283, 

Philadelphia  Yearly  Meeting  of  1855, 
ii,  212 

Philadelphia  Yearly  Meeting  of  1856, 
ii,  218 

Philadelphia  Y'early  Meeting  of  1857, 
ii,  222 

Philadelphia  Y'early  Meeting  of  1860, 
ii,  293 

Philadelphia  Yearly  Meeting,  its  laps- 
ing condition,  ii,  302 

Philadelphia  Yearly  Meeting  of  1875, 
ii,  421 

Pickard,  Daniel,  his  "  Expostulation  on 

Doctrine,  etc.,"  ii,  382,  390 
Predisposing  causes  of  weakness  in  the 

Society,  i,  25 


R. 

Resignations,  J.  Otis's  remarks  on,  i,  75 
Richardson,  James  N.,  his  testimony 

against  the  new  doctrines,  ii,  358 
Rickman,  Priscilla,  her  decease  in  the 

true  faith,  ii,  375 
Rickman,  Matilda,  visits  America  with 

J.  G.  S.  and  L.  E.  G.,  ii,  384 


S. 

Salem  Monthly  Meeting,  Ohio,  extracts 
from  its  minutes,  ii,  341 

Salem  Monthly  Meeting  is  received  as 
part  of  General  Meeting  of  Pennsyl- 
vania, etc.,  ii,  344 

Sargent,  John  G.,  his  " Circular"  to 
Friends,  ii,  379 

Sargent,  John  G.,  visits  America,  with 
M.  R.  and  L.  E.  G.,  ii,  384 

Scipio  Quarterly  Meeting,  separation 
in,  ii,  169 

Seebohm,  Benjamin,  his  visit  to  Bucks 
Quarterly  Meeting,  ii,  113 

Seebohm,  Benjamin,  his  conversation 
with  C.  Healy,  ii,  114 

Separation  of  t lie  Hicksites  from  Phila- 
delphia Yearly  Meeting,  i,  152 

Separation,  Gurneyan,  in  New  Eng- 
land Yearly  Meeting,  ii,  82 

Separation  within  Philadelphia  Yearly 
Meeting,  ii,  301 

Shillitoe,  Thomas, openly  opposes  John 
Wilkinson,  i,  258 

Shillitoe,  Thomas,  his  death,  i,  311 

Shillitoe,  Thomas,  his  testimony  against 
J.  J.  Gurney,  i,  312 

Slavery,  nature  of  our  testimony  against 
it,  ii,  11 

Slavery,  decline  of  zeal  against  it,  ii,  12 
Smaller  Bodies,  their  position  iu  gen- 
eral, ii,  430 
Snowden,  Leonard,  his  appeal,  i,  144 


INDEX. 


441 


SnowJcn,  Leonard,  his  restoration,  i, 
146 

Southern  Quarter  attempts  to  change 
its  members  of  Meeting  for  Sufifer- 
.  inns,  i,  146 

South  Kingston  Monthly  Meeting  ir- 
regularly laid  down,  ii,  63 

Stephenson,  Isaac,  his  testimony  at 
New  Bedford,  1824,  i,  90 

Suit  at  Law  for  the  Fall  River  prop- 
erty, ii,  99 

Suit  at  Law  in  Ohio  for  Mouut  Pleasant 
property,  ii,  263 

Suit  in  Chancery  in  New  Jersey,  i,  208 

Swanzey  Monthly  Meeting,  commence- 
ment of  the  separation  there,  ii,  74 


T. 

Treffry,  Henry,  affecting  case  of  his 

latter  days,  i,  287 
"Truth  Vindicated,"  published  against 

the  Beacon,  i,  252 
"Truth  Vindicated,"  defended  by  its 

author  against  J.  J.  Gurney,  i,  260 


W. 

Wheeler,  Daniel,  his  .encouragement  of 
Samuel  Rundell's  pamphlet,  i,  309 

Wheeler,  Daniel,  his  Journal  garbled 
by  the  Meeting  for  Sufferings  in  his 
absence,  i,  310 


Wheeler,  Daniel,  had  no  unity  with  the 

modern  views,  i,  344 
Wheeler,  Daniel,  his  advice  to  J.  J. 

Gurney,  in  Philadelphia,  i,  344 
Wheeler,  Daniel,  sympathized  with  J. 

Wilbur,  i,  344 
Wheeler,  Daniel,  his  death  in  New 

York,  i,  345 
Wilbur,  John,  unexpectedly  sees  the 

approaching  defection,  i,  235 
Wilbur,  John,  his  interview  with  J.J. 

Gurney  in  England,  i,  236 
Wilbur,  John,  his  Letters  to  George 

Crosfield,  i,  240 
Wilbur.  John,  his  interview  with  J.J. 

Gurney  in  America,  i,  335 
Wilbur,  John,  commencement  of  the 

persecution  against  him,  ii,  50 
Wilbur,  John,  not  permitted  to  offer 

evidence  of  his  innocence,  ii,  59 
Wilbur,  John,  irregularly  disowned  by 

Greenwich  Monthly  Meeting,  ii,  66 
Wilbur,  John,  visits  England  a  second 

time,  ii,  3GS 
Wilbur,  John,  his  peaceful  decease,  ii, 

373 

Wilkinson,  John,  his  unsound  preach- 
ing rebuked  by  T.  Shillitoe,  i,  258 

Withy,  George,  his  testimony  against 
the  N.  E.  "  New  lights,"  i,  82 


Y. 

"  Yorkshireman,  The,"  published  by 
Luke  Howard,  i,  256 


n 


iw : 


BX7631.H694v.2 

The  Society  of  Friends  in  the  nineteenth 

Princeton  Theological  Seminary-Speer  Library 


1  1012  00149  8890 


